


Ghost of You

by crowkiiing



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: I'll add ships as I go along, Multi, Paranormal, Post-Despair, Pre-Future Danganronpa, Somewhat Au?, memory lost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-07-11 16:37:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7060636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowkiiing/pseuds/crowkiiing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All they needed to do was forget. Then it would be so much more easier. So they did.</p><p>They'd been through a lot. A killing game. The end of the world and all it's values. Junko Enoshima. </p><p>They lost sense of what was good and what wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This does include spoilers, since it is Post-Despair! We'll see how fast I can crank out chapters.

**< SONIA> **

"No way! You're not erasing them from my mind- our minds."

"Akane-"

Cracking her knuckles, Akane Owari took a step forward. "Dunno about Souda and Ha- Izuru, but Baby Gangsta and Sonia ain't forgetting their loved ones!"

_Loved ones._

As I laced my fingers together, staring wistfully at the pods which held my comatose friends.

"Akane, Sonia, Fuyuhiko, Izuru, Kazuichi," Makoto Naegi addressed us. "I'm sorry to say that all those in comatose will have their plugs pulled in one week. We are erasing all memory of them from your minds tomorrow."

With his voice wavering, it seemed that he had practiced this in advance.

"Why?" Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu demanded.

"Any memory of Chiaki Nanami and everyone who is in current comatose would be better of erased from the memories of the Remnant of Despair," Kyoko Kirigiri responded, flicking her braid away from her eyes.

"Gh...! No way!" Akane repeated her previous statement, her dark eyes flashing.

Kazuichi Souda followed her suit, slapping the pants of his yellow jumpsuit for emphasis. "Yeah, yeah! We can't just do kazam and totally forget them! Well, unless Miss Sonia's up for it, then I totally am too."

"I stand against it," I spoke, wrapping my arms around myself. "I believe it would be rude of ourselves to forget the lives that are struggling to maintain life in those pods."

"I'm on her side!" As expected, Kazuichi made a hand-gesture at me.

"Izuru, you haven't spoke at all during this discussion," Kyouko noted.

"Stop referring to me as Izuru," Izuru Kamukura- otherwise known as Hajime Hinata spoke, his voice flat.

Despite winning over Izuru in terms of being controlled (the black-haired male only got out when Hajime was overcome by an emotion or panicking because of Hajime losing control), he still carried some of Izuru's characteristics, just like his voice and smile...or lack of the latter.

"I apologize," she replied, although her expression said she didn't really care about it. "Hajime?"

Hajime sighed, dropping his hand from where it had tangled in his dyed-brown hair. "I...honestly think it's a good idea..."

Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi gaped at him. "You're gonna forget Chiaki?!" The latter exclaimed.

"Chiaki and I were never romantically involved," Hajime shot back. "Besides, don't you think we'd be better off without wallowing over the despair of the fact eleven of our friends are trapped in a battle between life and death? It's rare that they'll get out alive. We should forget the whole killing game before they actually die. You know, to stay hopeful."

"Your Izuru and Nagito are showing at the same time," Fuyuhiko muttered.

Akane bristled at the name, but her steely gaze never moved from Makoto's. "We all say no."

"Akane, I just said-"

" _We all say no,_ " Akane repeated, glaring daggers at Hajime while threateningly punching her palm with her other fist.

"Like I said before," Makoto said, his eyes glassy with sadness. "We're plugging their pod plugs in one week. Your memories are being removed tomorrow."

"Hey!" Fuyuhiko roared, taking a step towards the blonde heir in the back- Byakuya Togami. "We just said no, dammit!"

"You have no choice, plebeian," Byakuya sneered in return.

"Nice first words to add to this conversation, Four-Eyes," Fuyuhiko snarled, his temper getting the best of him. "We said no. You get that, you shits?"

"It seems you are uneducated enough to misunderstand the fact that what we choose happens. We're supporting you, you remnants of the Ultimate Despair.

"Had you gone out into the world today, there is no doubt hatred would snatch at you feet while revenge fired guns at you," Byakuya finished calmly. "What we say goes."

Angrily, the Yakuza tore his gaze from him to stare at Makoto. "How can you tolerate and work with a bastard like him?"

"I never said I could tolerate him," Kyouko said with a straight face.

With a huff, Fuyuhiko spun on his heel and slammed the door open, sprinting down the hall in seconds.

I started after him for a moment, but a tan arm stopped me.

"Leave Baby Gangsta alone for awhile," Akane suggested. "Out of all of us, he prolly needs ta' cool off the most. He's known Pekoyama for forever."

"That's true..." But I couldn't stop my gaze from wandering back to our view of the hallway before Fuyuhiko's retreating back disappeared.

Hajime sighed. "Let's just...go for the night."

With that, he turned on his heel and left the room, his footsteps echoing away.

Looking over at Kazuichi, I could see the awkwardness in his gaze as he purposefully looked down at the ground, twirling his wrench. Akane herself was quiet, having withdrawn her arm and crossed it across her chest.

"I guess...we can get an answer from you tomorrow?"

In the thick tension of the room, none of us responded before I chose to.

"Yes, in fact. Thank you."

With that, I excused myself from the room.

-

"Sonia!"

"I am coming, Akane," I called back, finishing my hair as I put the black bow into place.

I exited my cottage, very similar to that of one I had on Jabberwock Island, but not before I stole a fleeting glance at the four hamsters curled up on a cushion near the doorway.

Akane looked no different then usual- a sandwich in one hand as she waited for me to arrive, a small metal figurine clutched in the other.

"I'm not entirely up to this," she sighed, very much unlike herself. "I mean...can't just forget Old Man Nidai and all, ya know?"

I nodded, choosing not to comment on her words. The body of the Ultimate Team Manager flashed through my head, blue liquid spilling out from the back of his head.

And the murderer...

I immediately banished the thought from my brain as I walked alongside Akane. The Gymnast was pretty quiet herself, eyes staring dully at sun, whose's tears of sunshine dripped down on us.

It was silent until about more of a third of the way there, until she spoke.

"...you know, do you think this will really help us?"

The crisp, morning wind tugged at my hair, and several blonde strands flew around my face before I answered.

"Perhaps..." I replied, my words heavy. "If we do forget being the Ultimate Despair, as well as everyone's comatose, it is possible we will be better off."

She squeezed Minimaru in response, looking rather depressed. That aside, we kept walking till we reached the Future Foundation's headquarters.

Kazuichi and Hajime were already awaiting us, hands clasped behind their backs. Fuyuhiko, however, was nowhere to been found.

"Hello, Sonia, Owari," Hajime greeted, and Akane's guarded gaze flicked over in his direction.

"Izuru, is that you?" I asked, not bothering to greet Hajime's other, and more rude personality.

"Yes. He was stressed."

Direct, to the point- only expected of him. The emotion had been wiped clean from his face, a mask of heartlessness.

"We are waiting for Fuyuhiko, correct?" My question seemed to snap everyone out of their silence, and they all looked at each other, searching for the boy.

"He's not coming," Izuru said at last. "His grief over forgetting Pekoyama is affecting him. He does not wish to be present."

At the smooth _vsst_ of an electric door sliding open, we all looked towards the sound. Makoto exited the building, and, of course, flanked by Byakuya and Kyouko.

"Hey, everyone," he nodded. "Everyone here besides Fuyuhiko?"

"Yes!" Kazuichi said, his voice loud compared to the gentle tone the other had used.

"Kyouko, can you-"

"Yes." Without Makoto finishing his sentence, she spun on her heel and left at a brisk pace.

"You totally got your eye on her," the Ultimate Mechanic said, scratching his cheek with a finger. "Hey, as long as it's not Miss Sonia, I'm totally up to shippin' you two."

Makoto turned a shade of red, hastily covering his face with his hands for a few moments."That-That's nonsense!" He spluttered, and Kazuichi merely laughed in response. The tension in the air was lifted, even for a few moments before Makoto regained his composure.

"...so you guys thought about it?"

"How boring," Izuru sniffed in response. "It's clear that no matter what they shall choose-" Kazuichi raised an eyebrow at this, looking at the black-haired male like ' You were dragged into this too', "...their memories will get erased."

I frowned. "I do not wish to forget the memories we shared on that island..!"

"It's not just the memories of Jabberwock Island," Byakuya sighed. "It's your memories of them overall. Their entire existence will be demolished. As for Kuzuryuu...I suppose we're going to have to take away those memories of his childhood with Pekoyama as well."

"...I'm sorry," Makoto said at last. He was looking at the ground, an arm tugged to his chest. "There's really...no other choice. It's been about a year and a half, and..."

"No," I cut in quickly. "I...we...completely understand, we were holding onto a hope that we shouldn't of had."

"Don't let Nagito hear you say that," Kazuichi muttered under his breath. "He'll pro-"

His words were interrupted by a loud "Don't you get it? I said no, for fuck's sake!" and everyone glanced towards the direction where the voice came from. It wasn't hard to identify the voice as Fuyuhiko, who was struggling in Kyouko's iron grip.

The detective wasted no time in dragging him up to the group, a hand keeping him from bolting.

"I said no!" he barked, "Don't you understand that, dumbasses?!"

"Too bad," Kyouko said, without an inch of emotion or sympathy in her expression.

"Come," Makoto said, before turning, walking towards the double-doors with Byakuya right beside him.

The Remnants of Ultimate Despair cast a glance at one another- Akane was clutching Minimaru tightly, Izuru had no expression whatsoever, Kazuichi had gone death pale, and Fuyuhiko was (still) muttering curses under his breath.

"All right," I said at last. "Shall we go?"

-

_Why is it so hard to pretend that everything is okay?_

From behind the desk, Makoto was on his knees, pulling various files out. "Sonia Nevermind..." he muttered, and I stiffened when I heard my full name. "Kazuichi Souda..."

We were in a dimly lit room, and I could tell by the green light ghosting over Byakuya's cheekbones and jawline that we were in a room right next to the others in comatose. Casting a fleeting glance at the five chairs set up, a quiver of uneasiness danced down my spine, but I kept a straight face, with a fake smile.

"Fuyuhiko, you're sitting in the one nearest to Makoto. Everyone else can disperse in the chairs how they wish."

I sat down in the chair between Fuyuhiko and Akane, catching a glimpse of Kazuichi's crestfallen face as he occupied the one next to Akane.

_Was I really ready for my memories to be stolen, taken away as easy as stealing one's breath from their lungs?_

"Close your eyes," Kyouko commanded. "Fuyuhiko, we're doing you last."

Beside me, I could hear the yakuza stiffen, fingers digging into the padding on each side of the armrest. I closed my eyes just like she had said, and felt something descend upon my head and face, as well as the metal wiring touching my nose.

"Ten..." her robotic, monotone voice floated around in my head. I could imagine myself in the dark room, looking upon this memories as they slipped away from my grasp.

_"Fear not, my Dark Queen! I have tamed these fearsome beasts!"_

________"________ Nine."

_I tugged Gundam in the general direction of the stairs of the Strawberry House, hoping to get away with him before Kazuichi noticed. He looked down in surprise at me holding his arm, and nudged it so that I didn't touch the bandages on his left arm._

"Eight."

___________"__________ Interesting, interesting..." he mused. "It seems...that you yourself are immune to the poison that runs through my veins. Perhaps, you are a ruler of Hell much like I?" _

"Seven."

_____________"____________ My name is Gundam Tanaka! May you remember it, for it is the name that will rule this world!" _

"Six."

_Four hamsters flew out of his scarf, two on his shoulders, one ran down to balance on his index and middle finger, and the last rested on his forearm. I clapped my hands together, my eyes lighting up in excitement. "Oh, your hamsters! They're so cute!"_

"Five."

_______________"______________ Th-Thank you," Gundam mumbled, tugging his purple scarf up to his nose to hide the red scrawls that appeared upon his cheeks. But his scarf didn't entirely cover it, I could still see the blush, and even the tips of his ears had turned red. _

"Four."

_I found Gundam on the beach, crouched over his hamsters as they scurried around in the sand. He looked up when I approached. "Ah, Lady of Darkness, is my presence needed to benefit you tonight? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Three."

_His body hit the ground with a sickening slam, and Akane's grip tightened. I could see it in her eyes, too- she didn't like this. Gundam had murdered her coach, Nekomaru Nidai, and I could see slivers of tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. But at least she didn't have to see him die in front of your very eyes. A stream of blood dripped down the side of Gundam's skull, and the breeder didn't move, lying there, helpless and motionless._

"Two."

_"Trying to defend me is not benefitting to a royal such as yourself," Gundam told me. "Keep this in mind, Sonia Nevermind- never give up on life. It is insulting to both life and death._

"One."

_Gundam turned and offered me a small smile. It was rare to see him like that, if you take into consideration how little time he spent with others, but it set my heart on fire in the way I hadn't experienced before._

"Zero."

I desperately attempted to hold onto the memory of his face- his smile, name, and laugh had all slipped away- but my grip wasn't tight enough.

_"I'm so sorry, Sonia Nevermind."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scars upon memories, etched into the brain as if it was seared in it. It's only when makeup is applied that you can cover it up. With a new identity, it opens doors.

**< FUYUHIKO>**

Everything went dead silent.

Kazuichi's mumbles, the _click, click_ of Hajime's- or I guess Izuru's- nails against the metal underside of the armrest.

It all froze in an instant.

A pit of stone dropped in my gut, causing it to contract. Whenever the Future Foundation was doing, it was dead silent.

I couldn't resist it anymore- I glanced over to my left.

Next to me, Sonia's grip was death on the padding, her frame tense. That is, until a few moments passed and she relaxed.

"Kirigiri, what kinda bullshit do you think this is?!"

At her name, Kyouko stiffened, then whipped around to stare at me straight in the eye. Her presence was commanding, and powerful- but it wasn't to the point where I would cower under it. My father taught me that lesson, to stand tall.

 _Taught_ , I thought bitterly. _More like beat it into me._

"Be quiet," she whispered after a split second. "You might ruin the process."

"What process?" I hissed back, straining to get out of the metal wiring that had descended down on all of us.

To that, she didn't answer, and returned back to the little switches on the control she had in her hand.

With a click, and the push of a blue button, the metal cage that surrounded the four others seemed to unhook before rising up in the ceiling. The helmet that had been placed over their head also unlocked, disappearing into the panel above their heads.

For a minute or two, everything was motionless- until Akane blinked open her eyes.

"Huh... where... am I...?" Her words were slurred as she slid down from the chair, teetering dangerously. Makoto caught her by the arm.

"I'll explain it once the other three come to consciousness," the Ultimate Hope flashed her a smile, to which Akane frowned.

She scanned the room, glassy pools of brown landing on me. They unfocused then focused, as if lenses were whirling around inside, like a camera.

Then Akane lifted a tan hand and pointed at me.

"... Who the hell is he?"

"He had massive brain damage," Makoto assured her. "One half of his skull was fractured. It repaired, but it still left a lasting effect."

At this point, Izuru hopped off the chair. In the odd light, his eyes looked almost hazel, like normal...

That is, until I realized they were Hajime's normal eyes, a greenish-brown.

He looked even more confused then Akane, but didn't say anything.

Soon, Kazuichi's eyes flicked open. It took him several moments to get his bearings and feelings back into his limbs, but he landed on the ground without a problem.

Sonia woke soon after that, jerking from her daze with a small gasp.

"So the thing fuckin' worked, huh?" I spat.

The princess' eyes raked over me, wide with fear. I was aware of how I looked- a teenager with a bunch of scars over his face, along with white gauze wrapped over one side of my face to cover Junko's eye.

In an instant, Makoto herded them out of the room, ushering them towards another one.

Once they were gone, I leaned back, staring up on the ceiling. On it, was the Japanese word for future.

 _My future is one of nothingness_. If this went correctly, I was about to have my whole memory wiped.

"What do you plan to do, anyway? Can your machine-thing take away nineteen years of memories?"

"You don't have three years of those memories," Kyouko reminded me. "Not all of them, anyway."

I scoffed, but she was right- only bits and pieces of the memories I had as the Ultimate Despair floated around my mind. I really didn't want them to be there, as the terror for what I did usually came back in bursts during the night.

"And we're actually doing a different approach on you. Granted, it might not be safe, but this machine can only remove up to five years worth of memories. And even after that, it needs a lot of time of cool down."

With that, she straightened the collar of her suit, and turned towards the door.

"You can come in, Shingetsu."

The door, the same one Makoto and the others had gone out of, clicked and swung open- but slowly.

Standing in the doorway was someone I mildly recognized from my dreams- older, but for sure him.

At the sight of me strapped to the chair, Nagisa Shingetsu nearly dropped the bag held timidly in his hands.

"Y-You didn't say anything about him!"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

It had been at least two years since I last saw him- which meant he was from the ages eleven to thirteen now.

Instead of the cowlicks that he used to have, his blue hair was easily smoothed to the side, having one bang that covered his right eye. His attire was mostly the same besides the abandonment of his scarf, as well as the Warriors of Hope pin.

"We had a deal, no?" Byakuya spoke from the back of the room, having been so quiet up to the point that I guessed he was counting his money to keep busy.

"Well, yes, but..."

Even Nagisa's aura had changed. It had a tinge of fear to it, as if he was terrified of being betrayed.

"What are you going to do, anyways?" I demanded fiercely.

Cautiously, he kneeled to the ground, taking great care in extracting the lump from the bag.

When I saw the red eye, I tugged wildly on the metal wiring.

"No, you are not putting that on me. No, no, no... never..."

My voice faded weakly at the end as Monokuma's eye stared back at me, jolting several memories through my brain.

Monokuma, laughing as he sent Peko to her execution.

Monokuma, pulling me to the hospital while whispering 'You should have died'.

Monokuma, overseeing all the trails.

Monokuma, a virus we put on ourselves.

My voice had suddenly risen up to a shriek without me realizing it. Panic coursed through my veins, fueling my need to get out of these goddamn restraints.

"Don't you dare put that damn thing on me!"

Nagisa shifted so that the Monokuma Helmet rested snugly under his arm, then glanced towards Kyouko.

The Future Foundation member looked me in the eye, and for a second, I could see a streak of sympathy in her gaze.

"Put it on him."

The sound of Nagisa's footsteps grew closer, and I kicked out against the wires, slamming my foot endlessly into the metal cage.

"I said, don't put that thing on me!"

Byakuya only looked at me, his lips curved into a scowl. "Stop squirming," he commanded.

"Hell no! You thought I would stay fucking still like an obedient pet and let you put that _thing_ on me?"

"Kuzuryuu," Nagisa cut in. "It's not the actual Monokuma. It's just a helmet."

"I know that, bastard! Do you think I don't know the fact you used these for brainwashing in Towa City!?"

He stiffened, and I took this as a sign to keep pushing it. "You just- you just went along with it, because you were so lovesick with Monaca, you never actually questioned how strange she was. You fell for her pity act, and-"

"B-Be quiet...!" Nagisa was trembling; it was clear that the mention of the girl was some kind of trigger for him.

"Shingetsu, already put the helmet on him," Byakuya commanded.

I opened my mouth in attempt to stall a little longer, to shake Nagisa up so much he wouldn't be able to do it.

But when he came up behind me, with a silence that rivaled Peko's, I jerked in attempt to avoid the helmet. Nonetheless, it slammed down on my head.

The whirr of it starting up told me that Nagisa, Kyouko, or Byakuya turned it on. My fingers, which were an inch deep into the padding on the armrest, relaxed without me registering it.

My kicking ceased, instead going still. The fear and terror that flooded my bloodstream seemed to disappear, replaced by an eerie calmness.

"It's working," was Nagisa's breathless comment behind me. "His body is shutting down."

"And you said using electricity would shock his brain tremulously, correct? With a eighty-two-percent chance of it zapping his memory completely."

At her words, I wanted to call out. It was an act of weakness, but I was terrified.

One, I could have my brain completely fried- and either die, or become a shell of my former self (I prefer the former option).

Two, I could completely forget Peko, my sister, and everyone I've ever done and met.

At this point, I preferred the first option to the second. It was the moment before her 'execution' that was seared into my brain, playing on a repeat.

_"Young Master...!"_

Something cold ran down my cheek, dripping down my chin. Droplets of water. Tears, just like when I cried before her execution.

Several noises of someone flicking on switches.

"Three, two- Shingetsu, back away!- one!"

My spine arced back as pain boiled my blood vessels alive, and it was only a few seconds that I was able to hold back a guttural scream.

Compared to the beatings I got, the whips, this was the pure agony as electricity danced across the pores of my skin, entering into my bloodstream.

Then blackness consumed my vision, eating up color as if it was a hungry pig.

"Kuzuryuu! Kuzuryuu!" Was all I heard before my brain shut down.

-

"Is he even conscious?"

Words.

Words met my ears, undoubtedly female.

_Female...? What... Where did that come from?_

My eyes flickered open. Above me, a tan girl looked at me in concern, brown hair splayed wildly around her head.

"Hey... You okay there, bud?"

I squinted at her, trying to eliminate the blinding white lights embedded into the ceiling.

It took several tries to get my vocal cords working. "Y-Yeah..."

All the terms that I didn't recognize drifted across my brain like I knew what they meant.

"What's your name?"

The other person in the room, a boy with light brown hair, was leaning on a wall.

"I... don't know..."

"That's natural."

The entrance was silent- the purple-haired girl had slipped in without a sound.

"After a brain scan, we realized we had to take away his memories to restore the scar on it," she explained, then offered a gloved hand towards me. "Can you get up?"

"... I think?"

Pain washed over my body as I attempted to prop myself up on my elbows, and fell back onto the ground.

"My name is Kyouko Kirigiri," she said, taking my hand in hers and pulling me up to sitting position.

I groaned at the movement, squeezing my eyes shut until it faded to something in the background.

"Akane Owari," the tan girl from earlier introduced, then looked towards Kyouko. "Do you know his name?"

"Fuyuhiko. Fuyuhiko..." she hesitated. "That's all we know."

 _Fuyuhiko?_ That was my name? Smooth, easily rolled off the tongue- I, actually, rather liked it.

"I'm Hajime," the boy said, nodding once I kicked around in the sheets. 

"Where... where am I?" 

"Future Foundation headquarters. You, Fuyuhiko, had brain damage from both a fire and wood crushing a portion of your skull. Hajime and the others were struck in a car crash that wiped out two to three years worth of memories." 

"So... I lost all my memories?" I tried. It was probably true- I attempted to reach past the terms floating around in my head- things like silver, light, metal, cold- but after that was a vast expanse of just... nothing. It wasn't black nor white, just... empty. 

"Do you think you can stand?" Kyouko asked. 

"Not sure..."

Akane watched me with alert eyes, her mouth curved into a frown and brows furrowed into a competitive look. 

I pulled the sheets off with one hand, leaving me with tan dress pants and a simple white shirt, along with a black tie that had something that almost looked like a spider on it.

The instant my bare foot touched the floor, agony sparked up my leg, and I snatched it back, my entire frame tensing at the pain. I had gritted my teeth without even realizing it, the veins of the back of my hand rising. 

"You okay, Fuyuhiko?" Hajime asked, shuffling closer. 

"F-Fine. Just hurt a little, that's all." 

"Hinata, can I ask you to lead him around? If he can get out of the bed, that is." 

 Hajime nodded, then fixed his hazel-eyed gaze on me again. "Wanna try once more?" 

I nodded, then slipped back over to the side of the bed, placing the my foot on the floor. This time, only some pain flashed through the body, and I followed by placing my other leg down.

Getting up on my feet proved hard, but Akane caught my arm and steadied me. "C'mon. I haven't been outside these rooms either."

"That's because you look starved, Akane," Hajime deadpanned. 

Looking closer at the girl, I could see that he was right- at least partially. Akane was about as thin as a dead twig. 

"Nah, it's fine. Was cleared, at least for a little while."

"Just take it easy." 

"Sure thing," Akane replied, rolling her eyes and darting towards the door. I was mildly surprised by how much energy she has- but it was probably the aftermath of being cooped up for so long.

Hajime kept behind me, calling out commands to Akane in front. I shuffled along, my hands slid into my pockets. 

Around the corner, we met another brown-haired boy.

"Makoto," Hajime greeted.

"Hajime, Akane," Makoto broke into a soft smile. "And Fuyuhiko's finally woken up?" 

"Hello," I inclined my head. "... you say that as if I was out for a long time."

Makoto's easy-going smile flickered. "You were. Three weeks." 

"I actually saw you before your memories were removed," Akane recalled. "Didn't seem like a very happy person." 

I didn't know how to reply to that, but Makoto maneuvered around us (after almost smashing into a wall), then turned and waved goodbye. "Have to go now, Kyouko's waiting for me." 

"Is he a Future Foundation mem-!"

A ripple of absoutele pain passed through my brain. My knees had buckled without me realizing, and black spots wavered in and out of my vision. After a moment, two flashes of red blinked before my eyesight cleared.

My hearing had completely disappeared, and it was only when I could see again that I could hear Hajime's panicked voice in my ear, jostling me by the shoulder.

"-hiko! Fuyuhiko! Are you all right? Do you need to go back to the hospital room?" 

"I'm fine," I managed, standing up, swaying side to side. 

"We should go the dinin' room," Akane announced from up ahead. "Kazuichi and Sonia are there, anyway." 

"Kyouko... Kyouko did say the others," I remembered. "So there's four of you?"

"Yeah, accordin' to what they said." 

"All right, dining hall's this way." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is Akane. Fuyuhiko meets Kazuichi and Sonia, but she dismisses herself to her room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The eye of the beholder sometimes cannot see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER DOES HAVE A MENTION OF CHRISTIANITY.  
> Also, this has been something I've been pondering about for a while- somewhere back when I was writing Fuyuhiko's 'awakening' last chapter: Akane X Fuyuhiko. Bam. Mind blown.

**< AKANE>**

  
This time, Hajime navigated- I had no idea where the hell I was going- and even with his instructions, it was confusing.

Instead, I took up the rear. The new guy, Fuyuhiko, was in the middle, looking side to side at the walls.

I didn't know what he found so interesting about them- they were silver. That's it. Nothing else but silver.

I remembered the day after Makoto managed to wake us up from our coma- I had been the first to wake, and Fuyuhiko had stared at me with an intense gaze.

At the time, he had worn a white strip of cloth, but now, he had a wide bandage over it. It didn't seem like he noticed.

"Here we are," Hajime said, pushing open two tan doors, then holding it for us two.

"Thanks," Fuyuhiko said as he passed. I only nodded.

"Yo," Across the room, Kazuichi was leaning against the wall. Next to him was Sonia, turning her head towards us with excitement in her eyes.

"Hello," Fuyuhiko shifted from side to side, glancing around the room. "I'm assuming you're Sonia and Kazuichi?"

The teenager puffed out his chest proudly. "I'm Kazuichi!" He said, thumbing his nose. "Kazuichi Souda!"

"Souda..." Fuyuhiko looked like he was about to snicker.

Kazuichi visibly deflated. "Please don't make the joke, man. It was funny the first few times, but after a couple hundred... not really."

In response, the sandy-haired boy's lips lifted up in something resembling a smile. "And you are, Sonia, I assume?"

"Sonia Nevermind," Sonia dipped into a curtesy. "It is my greatest meet to pleasure you!"

"Greatest pleasure to meet you," Hajime corrected. "Kazuichi's a mechanic, while Sonia... well, Sonia's a princess from an European country."

I could see Fuyuhiko pale instantly, like Hajime had first done when Sonia introduced herself- they didn't know what to do in the presence of a princess.

"Yeah, introductions are great and all, but I'm gonna head back to my room," I stretched my arms above my head as I spoke.

In response, Fuyuhiko inclined his head, and I left the dining hall.

Our rooms was a clutter near the hospital rooms. There had always been an empty room for some reason- but I guess that was for Fuyuhiko now.

Mine was the farthest from the hospital rooms- because, damn, my nose could not stand that smell.

The atmosphere was cold when I stepped in- just like every other day, even though I was sure that I had left the heater on when I left earlier today.

Everything was left untouched- almost.

The notepad I had left in the counter had a page flipped up, and the pen that had been formerly on the left side was now on the right.

"This better not be a joke," I mumbled as I pulled up a chair, tugging the notepad towards me.

The front page looked exactly how I left it- slanted handwriting (that belonged to me) scribbled across the page.

The note said: I dont know who you are, but I think youre a ghost, so if you are, give me some clue to your identity

On the page below it, in very scripted but blocky, was the word: COACH.

"Coach, huh?"

It was certainly a possibility. I was told I had been accepted to a school called Hope's Peak Academy for my talent- and I had a title, the Ultimate Gymnast.

I had a variety of coaches over the year, most who were perverts on the streets.

Other then that, there was no other words. No name, no second hint, no clues. Nothing.

I shut the notepad, placing it off to the side.

My suspicion of a ghost being in the room started about two weeks ago, maybe a couple days after I first saw Fuyuhiko restrained to that funky-looking chair.

When I had come to my room, everything was scattered. My bed (which was actually the couch) was a tangle of sheets, my clothes threw all over the floor, the two lawn chairs skewered. The only hint I got was the word 'TERU' written on the door with salsa.

I think it was salsa, anyway. Tasted like salsa.

Sonia, being the person she was, cleaned it up before any of the others saw it.

"Heh. Look at me," I muttered under my breath, flexing my fingers. "Goin' paranoid, thinkin' there's some kinda ghost in my room."

Sparing a glance at my bed, I frowned at the thought of the dreams that flickered across my mind almost every time I went to sleep. I usually didn't allow them to get to me. Most recently, they had become more vivid, activating all five of my senses rather then one or two. Most of the time, I dreamt in black-and-white, but color had seeped in recently- tainting the image in streaks of blood.

I'm going crazy for being in here for so long.

With a tired sigh, and a grumble from my stomach, I flopped down on my bed, not even attempting to fix the mess of sheets.

My fingers curled into a ball involuntarily, nails digging into the fine fabric.

The hum of the fridge (which was really just there, every time someone restocked my fridge, I usually ate all the food within minutes of discovering it) did little to settle my racing mind over these new discoveries, but even so, my conscious lightbulb flickered off.

-

When I rolled off my bed and hit my head on the floor, my eyes flicked open.

"...hell..."

I untangled myself from my limbs, having somehow wrapped my leg around my right arm. After getting out of that mess, I got up and started walking to the bathroom, leaning over the sink to wash my face.

"What...?"

I didn't feel fear.

I didn't feel anything but disbelief as water droplets dripped down my face, staring into the mirror and looking at my reflection. But I wasn't the only person in the reflection.

Just behind my shoulder hovered a robot head. It had rather sharp angles- a pointed screw-thing coming out of its' chin, two spikes on either side of its' head, bushy eyebrows, and dull eyes.

As I watched, the eyes flickered on and off, changing between grey and yellow every few moments. That's when fear, as much as I hated it, rooted itself in my stomach. 

"... I have a robot for a ghost?!"

The instant the words left my mouth, the head jerked, floating out of the room with a swift pace. I swiped a hand across my brow in attempt to dry it (a lot of good that did me, my hands were already wet), rubbed the water out of my eyes, and dashed after it.

When I arrived back into the living room, which was the only room connected to the bathroom, there was no sign of the floating head.

Nothing disturbed, everything exactly how I left it.

A chill ran down my back, cold sweat trickling down my neck at the thought of me actually having a ghost in my room.

I absolutely hated ghosts. But I had to overcome this stupid phobia. 

The clock read three AM- which was the time Yasuhiro Hagakure- one of the Future Foundation members I've met before, but pretty much never saw again- claimed to me that it was the time of paranormal activity.

Something about the opposite time of when Jesus was slain or something along those lines. I'm atheist.

I felt too awake to just fall back asleep; my blood fizzled with energy, the need to get out and do something- anything.

At the thought of a ghost being in my room, I cast my mind back to anyone who might have experience with it.

Fuyuhiko, definitely not. Kazuichi, probably not. Hajime, the guy was pretty knowledgable from what I've seen so far, so he probably had an inkling of an idea. And last but not least, Sonia...

I straightened as I considered the idea.

Sonia had an interest in occult (and another weird obsession- with serial killers, no less), so she probably would know something- at least a tad bit of information that could confirm anything or nothing.

Dammit, I'm going insane.

Nonetheless, I kicked the chair out of the way so I could easily get to the doorway, casting one last glance behind me at my room. WhenI returned, would it be a mess like it was when I came in earlier? Would the goddamn robot head be the ghost I had been wondering about all this time, or was it just a hallucination?

The hall was, like I expected, quiet. It was freaking three AM in the morning, but yet there was one light in the hallway- the one across from my room, which had no current nameplate like the rest of ours did.

Fuyuhiko's, probably.

The glow was dim- so the whole room probably wasn't lit, maybe like a bed-light or something. I touched the knob of the door, then decided against knocking (hell, it's three in the morning, who needs politeness?) and instead just opened the door.

Fuyuhiko's eye met mine from his spot across the room, a small nest of pillows and blankets against the wall of the room. The light came from a lamp that was set beside him.

"... Akane...?" He asked, bewildered.

"What the hell are you doing awake?!"

"I could ask the same for you," the blonde countered. "The reason why I'm still awake is because I didn't feel to the need to sleep. I've been in a coma for the past three weeks."

"I went to sleep a few minutes after I left the dinin' hall."

He set the book he was reading aside, dog-earing a page. I saw the words on the cover flash 'The Ghost of Graylock' before he set it on its' back.

How ironic is that?

"So, do you need something?" Fuyuhiko asked, fiddling with the buttons of the shirt, attempting to re-button them. He unfastened the buttons so it left his collarbone exposed, which was something I used to do.

"Sorry to disturb your peace and stuff, but do you know 'nything about ghosts?" My stomach flipped at the thought of the creepy things. 

"Ghosts?"

"Yeah, ghosts," I scratched my ear. "Yeah, or nah?"

Fuyuhiko tapped the back cover of the book. "A little bit," he confessed. "I said I probably couldn't sleep tonight, and Sonia offered me three or so books to read. It's all about... creepy, horror stuff. This one I'm reading is good."

I deadpanned. "Since when I did ever care if it's good or not?"

"I have the freedom of speech. So, anyway, what'd ya need me for?"

"How much did you learn from the Gaylock book?"

"Graylock," the teenager (I don't even know his age, but he looked around fifteen with a babyface?) corrected. "Not Gaylock. And tips here and there on how to capture or check if there's a ghost around."

I shuffled closer, crackling my knuckles. "All right, you're comin' with me. Get your butt up and outta this room and into the hallway."

"Wait, Akane-!"

"I said now."

Fuyuhiko looked clearly surprised at my tone, and scrambled to his feet. I gestured to the open door, which he dragged himself out of. Once he was out in the hallway, he turned to look expectantly at me, one sandy-blonde eyebrow raised. "Well?"

Jerking my chin at my door, I followed him in. His movements were stiff, jerky, and unsure- so I took the lead.

"There's something going on in my roo-!"

"Clearly you're not organized," Fuyuhiko remarked dryly.

Even though I had only been gone in what seemed like several minutes, it looked like my room had been turned upside down.

"I'm messy, yeah, but not this messy," I shot back, picking my way across the chair that was upturned. Pretty sure I had kicked it back into place under the table earlier. "Come into the bathroom with me."

Fuyuhiko's face lit up in red. "I-I'm sorry, w-what?"

"Just come on!"

"A-Akane, I'm n-not sure if-"

I grabbed him by the wrist, starting to drag him to the bathroom. All the way, he resisted against my grip, but with no avail.

"Okay, you might call me crazy or somethin', but I was washin' my face off earlier this morning. And when I looked up, there was somethin' right here- a floating robot head!"

"Are you okay?" Fuyuhiko asked tentatively. "Do you need to go back to sleep?"

"I'm fine," I insisted, pinning him down with hard brown eyes. "I swear to god, I saw it right here!"

He looked unsure, his teeth digging into his lower lip.

"Look, I'll prove it ta' you! If there's a ghost in here, they'll break the mirror!"

His awkward expression melted away, replaced by a slight frown. "Akane, it's not like they're going to-"

The mirror shattered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People believe that if you haven't met someone before, or recognize their face, it's impossible for them to be in your dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyeee I made a cover.

**< SONIA> **

White. 

White, like fallen snow on a clear night. That was the hue of the vast area before me- a sheet of white, and nothing else. 

It wasn't cold, like I had suspected- instead, warmth enclosed me on all sides, wrapping me in a bubble. I smiled to myself, wound my arms around my body, and closed my eyes.

The moment of silence was scarce, for a few seconds later, the clop of boots against pavement caused my eyes to flick open.

There, standing quite a distance away, was a man I had never seen before.

In Novoselic, my kingdom believed that you have to know someone, recognize their face, know at least their features to see them in a dream. But the man was no one I had ever met, with dark hair slicked back, sliced with grey.

His eyes were demanding, fierce- narrowed, as if analyzing me. One of his eyes were grey, just like the streaks in his hair, but the other was a startling red.

He was darkness in the canvas of white, offering some shade and color to the painting. 

"Greetings!" I called across to him. "Are you, perhaps, a ghost?" My knees almost wanted to give out in excitement at the thought. 

He only cocked his head, lips curving into a slight frown just before he shook his head. 

"A demon?" 

This time, that question got a reaction from him. His eyes widened, and several noses- three, I believe, poked out of his scarf, which was wound around his neck and shoulders. 

"You are a demon?" I exclaimed, clasping my hands together, my body trembling with excitement. "Tell me, what is it like-

Just like that, the man turned his back, exposing the strange symbol on the back of his black trench-coat. I frowned at the sight of the pixels, trying to burn it into my mind so I could, possibly, look it up later on Future Foundation's web. 

The white collapsed, giving away to the cracks of black that spread instantly, shattering into shards of glass that were tinged with white. Instantly, darkness ate away at all the light that was remaining, including the man.

I was left standing in a pit of oblivion, and the ground gave out below me.

A scream rose from my throat without me realizing it as the boiling heat of the volcano that suddenly appeared beneath my feet. I closed my eyes and waited, waited for my pounding heart to stop beating and be consumed by the lava entirely.

A screeching noise sliced through the air, as if it was butter. 

All heat disappeared entirely, replaced by cold air, and I jolted awake, banging my head on the lamp post just above my head.

"A dream, yes..." I murmured, rubbing tentatively at the spot where I hit my head.

Another scream, followed by a loud yell. "Oh my god, oh my god, _oh my god!"_

The voice was male. 

The fear and panic was heard clear in their voice, and what was also clear was the thumps in the room who shared my left wall- Hajime's room. I removed the sheets quickly, dressed in a simple white nightgown provided by the lovely Aoi Asahina, and dashed out the door.

"Fuyuhiko? Akane?!" 

The former was on the floor, his hands propping him up as he took quick, uneven breaths. Someone had turned the light on in the hallway, which caused me to squint. 

"You okay?" Kazuichi asked, kneeling beside him.

"Do... I look... okay?" He gasped out. 

"Well, no..." Kazuichi scratched at his ear. 

Meanwhile, Akane was lying down a distance away from Fuyuhiko, propped up on her elbow, Hajime had a hand on her shoulder, and was discussing something with her in a low tone, which she responded to with short words, nods, and shakes of her head. 

She looked more terrified then I've ever seen her, shaking. 

"How'd Akane even get all the way over there, anyway?" Kazuichi asked Fuyuhiko.

"We... we ran out... of her room," Fuyuhiko jutted a thumb at the door. "... tripped over me... landed over... there..." 

"If I may ask, what were you doing in Akane's room?" I asked, sitting on the other side of him. 

"Ooh, are we doing some Fuyuhiko on Akane-"

"There's... There's nothing... of the sort... going on! Akane... was trying... to get... me... to see something?"

"At three-thirty in the morning?" I cocked my head, sparing a glance at the clock down the corridor. 

"Yes, at three-thirty in the morning... don't know why... she was awake, but... I couldn't sleep, so I was reading... Ghost of Graylock!"

At the name of the book I lent him, I smiled. 

"And what prompted you guys to scream? Because I'm not getting anything from Akane," Hajime stood. 

I offered a pale hand to Fuyuhiko, who stared at it like it was a zombie. I might have met him late yesterday, but I could sense good intentions from the boy. After several moments of silence, he swung his other hand up to grasp mine, and tugged himself up. 

"I just... need some time to mull over it," he muttered after a moment. "Hopefully, it's not a trick..."

With that, he stumbled towards Akane's door, which had been left open. 

I looked at Hajime in confusion, who cocked his head. "I'll stay here with Akane," he offered. "She still seems shaken up." 

"Very well. Kazuichi?"

At his name, Kazuichi's head snapped up. Gesturing for him to come with me, I trailed after Fuyuhiko into Akane's room.

The first thing I noticed was the notepad left on the table. As I neared it, I could see Akane's handwriting, asking if their was really a ghost in her room.

_A ghost?_

My stomach flip-flopped, fizzling and bubbling with exhilaration, just like it did in that dream from earlier. 

"Sonia? Kazuichi?"

Fuyuhiko's voice brought me out of the haze of mulling over the memory, and I turned to face him, spotting him across the room, one hand on the light switch that was on the wall. Behind him, I could see a hallway. 

"It was down here," he murmured. 

"It?" Kazuichi questioned, a ripple of fear passing through his eyes as he peered over my shoulder to look at the notepad. "Ack..! G-Ghost...? F-Fuyuhiko, it's a ghost...?"

At this point, he was trembling almost as much as Akane earlier. 

Staying silence, Fuyuhiko turned his back, flicking the light switch on as he walked down the hallway and into the bathroom.

"Careful," he advised as he stepped into the bathroom. "There's shards all over the floor, and none of us are wearing shoes." 

I approached the door, peering over the side to look at what he was talking about.

Sure enough, dozens of pieces of what used to be a mirror were littered all over the floor, varying in different sizes. I immediately took a step back despite the fact I wasn't even in the bathroom, bumping into the wall behind me.

"Wh-Whoa...!" Kazuichi cried. 

"Keep it down," Fuyuhiko reminded him. 

The other male's brow furrowed. "Says the one who came out of Akane's room screaming." 

"It was something really weird, okay?" A red blush flared across his cheeks. 

"What happened here...?" I asked quietly, and Fuyuhiko squirmed, seeming to be quite uncomfortable.

"So, it started when I was reading at, like, three in the morning, and Akane just comes in, asking for my help. I don't know why, so go ask her, but she just did. She drags me back here, telling me that there's some kinda ghost in her... room, thing. I didn't believe her, of course- so she says she's gonna prove it to me. After that, she claims that the ghost will shatter her mirror, and straight after that, the freaking thing _breaks as if they heeded her command_ -" 

"Slow down!" Kazuichi held up his hands. "Y-You're sayin' there's a ghost somewhere 'round here?!" 

"I am." 

The seriousness in Fuyuhiko's visible eye and voice was clear, as if I was looking at the world through the sharpest lenses. 

"That's- that's bullshit!" 

"Perhaps it is," he uttered calmly. "That's not even the weirdest part. Akane and I backed up at the time, and when we were running out, I caught a glimpse in the reflection of one of the mirror's pieces- I saw red."

"Red?" I questioned. "What does red have to do with anything?" 

"Look around the room, Sonia. Do you see anything red?"

At his words, I glanced around the bathroom. Everything was either tan or white.

"Then it is a ghost, then!" I clapped, losing my composure as I bounced up and down gracefully on my feet.

Staring at me for a few seconds, Fuyuhiko sweatdropped. "Why do you sound happy about that...?"

"The occult is just so fascinating!" I smiled brightly. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...! You..." Kazuichi jutted a finger at me. "Like the _occult?"_

"Why, yes. Is there something wrong?" I blinked. 

"N-Nothing, nothing! You were saying about red, F-Fuyuhiko?" 

The said personage kneeled by one of the shards, his gaze roaming across the mess. "It's the one nearest to that white towel- the bigger one. That's the one where I saw red in."

"Hm? This one?" I extended my hand to point at the jagged mirror piece, and he nodded. I tiptoed closer to it, careful to not cut my skin on the other pieces. 

"Sonia, Kazuichi, Fuyuhiko!" 

At my name, I jerked my head around. Standing in the middle of the doorway was Makoto, an arm thrust out in front of Kazuichi. 

"What are you doing?!" 

"Trying to figure out this mess that we didn't cause directly," Fuyuhiko responded.  

Something that almost looked like protectiveness flashed in Makoto's gaze as he took a step forward, holding out his hand to me. "Come on, Sonia, I don't want you getting hurt." 

Hesitating in taking his hand, I looked back down at the glass, then back up at him before lifting my own. He grabbed mine and pulled me gently to my feet, guiding me through the maze of shards. 

"Fuyuhiko, are you all right as well?" Makoto called.

"I'm fine, thanks, Dad," he replied.

"How'd you even get over there without getting hurt?"

In response, Fuyuhiko lifted his foot, revealing the bloody imprint on the bathroom tile. "... I didn't." 

Surely, this was a different person then what I had met yesterday. Yesterday, he was more cautious, but this morning, he was rash- probably shaken up from his encounter. 

"What were you three doing?"

The voice behind me was male- and could belong to only one person, with all the scathing venom put into it.

"I'm sorry, Byakuya, but my attention was stolen by the fact there's apparently a ghost in Akane's room..."

His blue eyes flashed, a sheen stealing across the reflection of his glasses. "A ghost, you say. What a silly story." 

"But-!" Kazuichi protested, Byakuya silencing him with only a dark glower. 

"Come on. I'm assigned to get you two back to your rooms- Sonia, Akane's sleeping on your couch." 

"Hey, Togami, why don't you ever call us by our last names?" The mechanic beside me asked. "You call Makoto 'Naegi', and Kyouko 'Kirigiri'." 

For several seconds, the blond, tall Future Foundation member paused in his tracks. 

"I don't care." 

With that, he sharply gestured for us to get a move on it. 

I spared another glance at the bathroom, where Makoto was still attempting to convince Fuyuhiko to walk over the glass. That's when I caught glimpse of it.

Glimpse of the red- the royal, deep red in the fragments of the mirror. The fragment near the towel, just like Fuyuhiko had described. 

Then it was gone, disappearing just as fast as a fish might come to surface to get food, then duck back under. 

_A ghost._

Giddy excitement flowed through my veins, and I smiled at the very thought. 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heartbeat can only be so loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I have anything to say about this besides 'Sorry for my break'? Oh, I do, actually. Fuyuhiko's only a little bit taller, standing at about 162 cm, which is about 5'3" in comparison to his former 5'1"-ish height.

**< FUYUHIKO> **

"Come on, Fuyuhiko," Makoto called over the bathroom. 

My gaze lifted from the shattered pieces of the mirror, staring straight at him in the eye.

I didn't feel the odd calm I had felt yesterday, but instead a burning in my chest and throat, red tinted around the edges of my vision. 

He lifted his hands up in a sign of surrender, then pleaded, "Please. I don't want you to hurt yourself!" 

Just like that, it all seeped out of me. My shoulders visibly relaxed, I shifted into a more easy-going stance, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip.

"... Sorry," I muttered at least, rubbing at my neck. "I'm just... I don't know." 

"That's all right," Makoto coaxed. "Just make your way over to me. I'll clean this up soon."

Making my way over the fragments, even though trickles of pain leaked through my nerves, I found myself standing beside Makoto in no time. He smiled at me reassuringly, then knelt by my foot. "Um... is your foot okay? I saw that it was bleeding." 

"It's fine, it'll scab soon... I think." 

At the last words, an emotion flashed across his face, and I backtracked, thinking I had said something wrong. "Did I offend you? Sorry, sorr-"

"It's fine."

Standing and adjusting his tie, Makoto glanced at me. "Do you want to go to sleep...? I mean, it's about three in the morning..." 

"Did we wake you?" 

He laughed sheepishly. "A little bit, yeah, but it's fine." 

I slid my hands in my pockets, looking away from the brunet. "Sorry... I'll just... go now." 

With that, I walked down the hallway. Every time pressure was placed on my foot, pain flared up like a wildfire, before being doused by being exposed to open air. The other two, Sonia and Kazuichi, were nowhere to be seen, even though that blond, tall male I had saw earlier was also gone. 

Glancing behind me, I could see I had left a bloodied imprint in my footsteps, but Makoto was probably in the bathroom, and was attempting to clean up all the jagged pieces, like he had said. 

"Fuyuhiko!" 

The patter of footsteps. I glanced up, spotting Sonia rushing to me. 

"You're okay, right, right?" she asked, then peered over my shoulder- which wasn't that hard, since I was shorter then her, and her eyes widened upon seeing my footsteps. "You're bleeding!"

"I am, it's fine," I waved it off. 

"But it might get infected!"

"Sonia, I'm fine." 

With that, I hobbled off to my room, nearly tripping over the carpet and face-planting into the door. Sitting down on my bed, I pulled my foot up to eye-level, inspecting the thin but multiple cuts that littered across the heel of my foot. 

"Ugh..."I groaned, one hand rubbing at my eyelids. "This is gonna be a pain in the neck."

Nonetheless, I stood, walking towards the bathroom and propping my foot up on the sink, turning on the water. As I allowed it to run over the broken skin, the water resulting in a tinged, light pink, my gaze shifted to stare at me back in the mirror. 

Ignoring the slivers of pain, all my attention was focused on the white bandage wrapped around my right eye. I couldn't even feel the fabric against my skin, as if the skin surrounding that eye had gone numb. 

Cold flowed over my foot, but nothing dominated over my feeling on that side of my face. 

Reaching up, my fingers found a loose bandage, and tugged. 

It fell away without restrain, but I closed my eyes, as if I was expected multiple scars and ripped tissue to litter the area around the eye. 

Then opened them. 

Instead of the golden-brown my left eye was, the eye was a light shade of blue, with a glassy sheen of film, even thought it was a little askew. 

I bolted, tearing a bit of skin off by jerking my foot out of the sink and scraping it on the faucet. Then I immediately returned, turning off the water without sparing a glance at the mirror to save my rapidly-beating heart. 

Every beat was another harsh breath taken in, the image of that eye burned into my mind.

_Blue. Strawberry blonde. Black. White._

 I didn't know why I reacted so harshly, but I nearly tripped onto my bed, instead collapsing onto it, burying my head into the covers as the memory of me looking into that mirror, at the stupid blue eye that was _clearly not_ mine, caused me to involuntarily shudder. 

Even the feeling in my foot seeped away. 

My breathing came out in shuddering breaths.

_Why am I reacting this badly? I feel like I'm having a panic attack..._

After pressing my knuckles to my mouth and biting the skin for several minutes, the evident, rapid beat in my ears had faded away to a dull thud. I allowed my head to drop onto the bed fully, shifting onto my side to focus on a small, stray string that rose that the blanket. 

Racing, my mind stored the image in the very back of my mind, hopefully not to be uprooted anytime soon, and I closed both of my eyes, exhausted. 

-

"Fuyuhiko!" A male voice called through the door. "Fuyuhiko!" 

_God, I feel terrible._

That was my first thought as I sluggishly pulled myself up, propping my elbows behind me. 

"What...?" 

"It's eleven o'clock. Get up." 

Not being able to identify them, nor feeling in the mood to retort then fall back asleep, I rolled off the bed, landing on the floor with a loud _'fuwmph'._

"Can I come in?"

"Sure, whatever," I groaned, "I'm gonna be in the bathroom."

A click followed, which was probably them opening the door as I shut the door to the bathroom, spitting in the sink as I reached for a toothbrush. 

"... you crashed last night," they observed. "I don't see any hints of you getting under the covers." 

"I wasn't in the mood to," I replied through a mouthful of mint bubbles, water, and toothpaste before spitting in the sink again. "Ugh, that taste in your mouth after you wake up from sleeping is _awful_..." 

"Tell me about it."

Splashing cold water on my face, I looked up again, and flinched, grabbing the towel and swiping the beads of water off my face. The bloody eye still looked the same as last night, and I could feel my throat close up before peeking behind me, scooping up the bandage in my hands. 

After firmly retying it around my head, I came out of the bathroom, tugging at my collar. "Oh, hey... Hajime..."

Turning from where he was glancing around my room, hands in his pockets, the said personage turned to face me. "You look like a zombie- really pale as well." 

"I know I said I wasn't tired last night to Akane, but after that scare, I really was," I muttered, swiftly scrubbing my hand through my short-cropped, dust-blonde hair. 

"She had a panic attack," Hajime murmured. "Probably has a fear of ghosts, but then I don't understand why she would try to pursue it..." 

 "Nevermind... why'd you call me?" 

He blinked. "Makoto told me to. Something about maintaining a normal sleep schedule."

"... he doesn't have to act like a father."

"It's Makoto. He's a worrier. Come on, let's grab you some food." 

Rubbing at my neck, I walked out the door, Hajime following closely after me. "Um... where's the dining hall again?"

He offered me a smile. "That's fine, you don't have to be embarrassed that you forgot it. It took me about a week, and Kazuichi _still_ can't find his way around about half the time." 

I hid my snort behind my hand as Hajime shuffled in front of me, taking me down the corners and turns of the hallways, before we arrived at the rather familiar-looking dining hall, Sonia and Kazuichi, just like yesterday, chatting. 

"Kazuichi likes Sonia," the ahoge-haired boy whispered to me in a low tone. "Like, _a lot_ , and it's only now that she's showing hints of liking him back." 

"Oh, really? And what does lubricant do?" Sonia was saying, her hands clasped together as she stared at Kazuichi, features lifted in a rather angelic smile.

"Lubricant is like a category," Kazuichi answered. "Not really a substance, but more like... substances, such as somethin' like oil. It's supposed ta' minimize friction, which helps a hell lot in machines. Speakin' of which, I have to re-lubricate my leg..." 

"You have to _what?"_

At my surprised tone, both Sonia and the mechanic glanced over at me, and Kazuichi, with a furrowed brow, repeated, "Re-lubricate my leg." 

"Your leg is just a normal human leg, made out of flesh and bone, isn't it?" I demanded.

In response, he rolled up his pant-leg of his right leg. 

The glint of metal told me all I needed to know. 

"An amputated leg..." I breathed. 

The metal leg started just above his kneecap, sleek with multiple plates that linked together. 

Kazuichi patted it. "Kirigiri said my leg was completely smashed in the accident, so she asked if I wanted a metal leg. I said yes. Ain't it cool? I can disassemble myself!" 

I winced. "Just looking at it makes my leg ache. Please cover it up again." 

He shrugged, then did what I asked. 

"Would you like something to eat, Fuyuhiko? Is your foot okay?" 

"It's fine," I waved it off. "And I can get food myself, Sonia." 

"Been there, done that," Hajime said once I turned, a plate of toast with butter in his hands. 

"Oh. Uh... thanks?" 

"Fuyuhiko!" 

"What's with people calling my name today?" I groaned, craning my head. "Good grief." 

Makoto was there, a hand held up. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

"Are you saying I poisoned it?" Hajime asked, incredulous. 

"No, no, it's just... it turns out Fuyuhiko's lactose-intolerant, so..." 

I blinked. "Huh?" 

"You can't eat anything with lactose, which is a lot of dairy products," Hajime classified. 

I set down the plate at the table, frowning. "Oh. Okay."

"You look okay, Fuyuhiko. A little on the pale side, but awake," Makoto said, inclining his head as a greeting to me as he shuffled into the dining hall. "Eat, I don't want you guys to burn the kitchen and dining hall while we're gone..." 

"While we're gone?" Sonia questioned. 

"Yeah, um, we're visiting... friends..." Makoto trailed off.

Kazuichi jumped up. "Oh, oh, can we come? We haven't been outside yet! S'not like we'll ruin anythin'!" 

He laughed sheepishly. "Oh, Sonia, stop giving me those puppy-eyes..." 

"Makoto, I don't see why not." 

The click of heeled-boots on the ground, and that lavender-haired girl, Kyouko Kirigiri, appeared besides the shorter boy. 

"But, Kyouko-" Makoto was about to protest, but Kyouko cut him off with a stoic glare. 

"It's not for the weak-hearted, though," she added, then narrowed her eyes at me. "Fuyuhiko. We already told you. Go eat." 

"Sorry," I apologized, shuffling towards the kitchen. 

"Sonia, can you get Akane for us... or just ask if she wants to come."

"Where are we going?" 

"That's not of importance right now. Ask if she wants to co- actually, that'd be a bad idea. Just tell her that us seven are going to somewhere she wouldn't like, and not to scavenge the fridge or push herself too hard." 

"Okay!"

The sound of Sonia scurrying off, judging by the rapid clicks against tile. 

I pushed the bread into the toaster, instead walking to the fridge and peering in, scanning for jam. 

After selecting the deep purple-red one, I went back to the toaster, fishing out a knife after opening several drawers. 

I didn't notice Kazuichi walk in.

"Y'know, you don't have to come if you're feelin' tired." 

"I'm not." 

"You were up until about three last night! And you just woke from a coma, Jesus!" 

"Does that matter?" As the toast popped up, I spread the jam across the surface, setting it on my plate. 

"Well- n-no, not really, but still..."

"Then I'll be fine," I stated, and picked up the plate, turned around to face him, and leaned against the counter, crunching into the toast. "Oh, this is good."

"Sonia made it herself," Kazuichi attempted a smile, and a chill ran down my back at the sight of the sharp-edged teeth he had. "Ain't it good?" 

"I just stated that," I retorted. 

"Sorry," he attempted to fix the white beanie on the top of his hair, which was a strange mix between black and hot-pink. "Oh, she's back!" 

"She did not respond," Sonia announced from the dining hall. "Well, she did nod at me, but that is it!" 

 I finished tearing through the first piece of toast when Kyouko appeared, skimming over Kazuichi and I. "You look presentable enough," she decided. "Come on. Fuyuhiko, set the plate aside and just eat it on the way there." 

Managing a nod, I obeyed, putting the plate in the sink before following her and the mechanic out the door.

"Can you believe it? We're going outside!" Kazuichi cheered.

"It's a dangerous place to be," Kyouko responded. "Oh, Fuyuhiko, have you met Togami? He's a rather irate companion, but a Future Foundation member nonetheless."

"I believe the term 'irate companion' suits you more then I," the blond man said next to her, peering at me over his glasses. "Byakuya Togami." 

"I think you know my name already, but it's Fuyuhiko," I said, to which he only scoffed.

_Note: the blond is a prick._

"I'm here, I'm here!" Makoto hurried up to us.

"All right. Let's go." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, don't yell at me for the Sonichi, Kazuichi can be really sweet if he wants to, and theres no Gundam as of currently... *tear* 
> 
> And where do you think they're going?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mental scars never will disappear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you have to wait for what Sonia, Kazu, and the others are going to :) And this is more of a filler chapter then anything, telling you some details.

**< AKANE>**

My hands danced across the bars, effortlessly balancing on the round, circular pole.

When I was told to be the Ultimate Gymnast, I didn't doubt it. It was just natural to twirl around the bars, without a second thought of where to place my feet and hands.

"-kane! Akane!"

At my name, my eyes flicked towards the door, seeing Sonia standing there, her hair wrapped in a braid.

"Ah, we are going somewhere! Kyouko said you would not like it, so I just wanted to tell you that we are leaving," Sonia said.

Only nodding, I turned my attention back to the ground, focusing on a single spot on the ground as my hands moved unconsciously.

_A ghost... there was a ghost in my room last night..._

I hated being scared.

Just the feeling of utter fear vibrating through your limbs- I hated it, I completely hated it. I hated the feeling of helplessness, unable to move, frozen on spot as your mind raced.

_A ghost. A ghost. A ghost. A ghost, a ghost, a ghost. Aghost, aghost, aghost. Aghostaghostaghostaghost._

I missed the bar, my palm scraping across empty air as the ground rushed up to meet me, but before I smashed my brain open on the floor, my legs wrapped firmly around the bar, hooking on around the knees and using my ab muscles to pull myself upright.

"Aw, hell," I muttered, scrubbing a hand through my hair as I fell down from the bar, landing evenly on my feet. "I'm overreactin', prolly..."

Silence answered me- I had forgotten that no one was here, and almost expected Hajime to chime in with a smart comment.

After taking a moment to clear my mind, I huffed, wrapping my fingers around my bar and pulling myself up in a pull-up.

_I just need to get my mind off this. I just need to get my mind off this._

Usually, I didn't have a problem with forgetting things. But this, this stuck out in my mind like a rainbow pin in a cushion of monochrome pins. Just the thought of something freaky floating around in my room was enough to give me the shudders.

Several pull-ups became several hundred, but still I worked, ignoring the ache in my arms, just pulling myself up and down, repeatedly, over and over again .

"Akane! Akane!"

At my name, I dropped to the floor completely, allowing my arms to hang by my sides. "Eh...?"

Aoi Asahina dashed in, her blue eyes alit in excitement. "I knew I'd find one of you guys here! I thought everyone was gone, and I couldn't even find Togami, whose's always here, reading in the corner, and Makoto wasn't here either, and I couldn't find you guys anyway- that guy that was in the hospital bed's gone now, too!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, I didn't process a thing ya said!"

"Where is everyone?"

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug, scratching at the inside of my ear. "Dunno, don't care."

"Ak-ane!"

"What? It's the truth."

Stretching her arms above her head, she peered at me, as if to take note of the frown on my face.  "Hagakure and Fukawa are here too," she proclaimed. "Although. now Hagakure's raiding the fridge."

"Where have you guys been?" I yawned.

"Towa City!"

"Towo... City?"

Aoi corrected, "Towa. You know, that city with all those air-purifiers?"

Blinking at her, rubbing at my arm, I shrugged. "Haven't been outside," I said.

"Naegi hasn't even taken you outside?" Aoi pouted. "Shame, shame on him!"

Just like that, her gaze shifted into one of more seriousness. "We've picked up a kid from Towa City, though... I recognize him, even though he's sorta broken... the activity in that city exploded in the past few weeks, but he claims he doesn't know anything about it?"

"Why're you tellin' me this, again...?" I faced the bars again, pulling myself up to lay on my stomach and reach the higher bars.

"I was wondering if you could talk to him..." attempting to smile, Aoi called over her shoulder, "Nagisa!"

For a moment, silence, like a beating heart, evident yet unable to be heard at first glance, slithered between us, until a mop of blue-hair poked around the corner.

"... I told you I don't know anything," he sighed at last, eyes casting downward.

At the chill in his blue eyes, my throat clogged up. His eyes were fractured, even I could notice that- broken, scared of what's to come, attempting to hold his head high despite the pain.

 _He's sorta broken,_ that was what Aoi said.

"Nagisa, this is Akane," Aoi said, holding a hand out towards me.

"Aw, I love lil' kids!" I grinned, my former thoughts dissipating into the air. Just the thought of a little kid, just like my other seven siblings I had back at my old place, caused a smile to flash on my face. "How old are ya?"

"I'm eleven," Nagisa said, inching backwards. "... what do you want?"

"Just ta' talk, I'm lonely here."

"Well, she's right there, isn't she?" With a trembling hand, he jutted his thumb towards Aoi. "S-So, talk to her."

His voice was quavering.

"You know, Akane isn't going to hurt you like Monac-"

Before the name fully lifted off Aoi's lips, Nagisa turned on his heel, bolting out of the room. My eyes widened as Aoi dashed after him, surprisingly quick. I followed.

But it seemed that our help wasn't needed, as when we arrived at the end of the hallway, the blue-haired boy was restrained by a large man, whose's hair flew out in every direction.

"Yo, Asahina," he greeted with a lazy grin. "And...?"

I scratched at my ear, taking in the glasses perched lopsidedly on the man's nose. "Akane. Nice ta' meetcha, but I wanna talk to that kid. If ya don't mind."

"Oh, this little guy?" He shook Nagisa by the arm, who didn't respond except aiming a glare at the man, which didn't help as he towered over the blue-haired boy. "I'm Hagakure! Yasuhiro Hagakure, the best fortune-teller there is!"

"Your p-predictions are only r-right less then a t-third of the time...!"

The words came from a girl in the corner, noticeably shorter then Yasuhiro. She had extended a shaking hand towards the man, biting her lip so hard that it was bleeding.

"Hey, that's better then anyone else!"

"W-What a worthless t-talent!"

"Now, now, Touko..." Aoi rubbed at her neck, and 'Touko' whirled on her.

"W-What do you m-mean, 'now, now'! I-It's nothing to do w-with you, you big-bre-"

"Oi, I'm still asking to talk to the kid," I said, cutting in.

Her gaze swerved towards me, a creepy smile taking hold of her lips. "Wh-What's this, you id-idiotic swimmer...? R-Relative of y-yours...? I-I can see why..."

"Dunno who you are, but I don't care..."

Nagisa ripped his arm free from Yasuhiro, rubbing at the folds in his now-creased folds. "What do you even want from me?!"

"I told you," Aoi protested. "What's going on in Towa City?"

"I don't know what's going on in Towa City! I'm not even in contact with the rest of the Warriors...!"

_Warriors...?_

Touko snorted, bringing her hands just under her chin, one cupped over the other. "O-Of course you know... you were their strategist...! O-Or their... S-Sage, I think you w-were..."

"Do you think Monaca would tell me _anything_ after I found out she betrayed me last time?"

"Feel the fear and do it anyway," Yasuhiro nodded. "Yeah."

"You're an idiot," Nagisa told him, his lip curling in disgust.

"Yeah, yeah, I kno- wait, what?"

And just like that, he was gone, and I found myself dashing after him again.

I found him in the hospital room.

I spared a glance at the bed, in the bed that Fuyuhiko had formerly resided in, then at him, head tucked into the crook of his folded arms.

It seemed as if he didn't hear me come in, but his shaky breathing was clear enough.

Creeping forward, I rested a hand on the wall, cocking an ear towards the boy as he spoke, voice trembling.

"W-Why... W-Why do they keep b-bringing her up...? I-I w-want to forget h-her, y-yet... I do-don't..."

Burying his head in his hands again, Nagisa went silent for a moments. "S-She didn't e-expect anything, anything of me, s-since I was t-too worthless... even more w-worthless then J-Jataro..."

"Hey, kid," I said at last.

His gaze whipped towards me as he reached a hand up to rub away the tears running in streaks across his cheeks, Nagisa's expression shifting to a more guarded one. "W-What-" he winced, probably at the quiver in his voice. "- do you want...?"

I crouched next to him, and Nagisa visibly flinched, a dark ocean in his eyes. "I said, what do you want...?!" 

"Nothin', nothin' at all, but you need some help, little guy?" 

"No, I don't need h-help... I'm fine, I can do this all on my own... I need to uphold this on my own shoulders..." 

A frown flickered across my lips as I shifted, allowing myself to sit down fully and put an arm around him. "Y'know, I love little kids." 

"... I'm eleven..." 

"Eleven?" I grinned widely. "That's 'bout as old as one of my siblings... her name's Mako, which is kinda funny, since she looks kinda like that Makoto guy that works here- ya know him? She has this mop of brown hair and one of the sweetest smiles on Earth. Haven't seen her in 'while, though..." 

"I don't have a-any siblings..." Nagisa visibly winced, before swiftly muttering under his breath, "... why am I telling her this?" 

"I have tons," I snorted. "The house is crazy. You wanna adopt some?"

"... I couldn't... parents are, um, away."

I shrugged, widening my legs into a split and leaned forward, retracting my arm that had gone around his thin shoulders and touching my elbow to the ground. "Oh, well, I'm not in the house much anyway, it's hell." 

Nagisa bit his lip, an action that drew blood, and glanced away. "... I know the feeling... not wanting to go inside your own house..."

Following that, the boy shuddered. "I said too much."

Clearly, those words were his reminder to keep his mouth shut, and instead of looking at him, his glassy blue gaze fell on the wall. 

"Can ya at least tell me about Towi City, then?"

Immediately, he corrected me. "Towa. It's called Towa City."

"Same thing..." With one hand still on the floor, I scratched my ear. 

Nagisa turned his gaze back to me, and it was a gaze I felt uncomfortable under. As unlikely as it was for me to mind the gazes some people sent me, gazes either much like the one Touko had given me earlier, or of some guys that wolf-whistled at me on the streets, the one that this blue-haired boy gave me had a eerily tinge to it.

Just like that, the eeriness was gone, and Nagisa bit his lip once more. "... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you..." 

I lifted my shoulders in another shrug. "Why would it hurt?"

"... because Towa City was a place of a mass genocide," Nagisa sighed. "If you could count it as a genocide, where kids murdered adults and only adults. Basically, wherever you went, you'll see bodies littering the streets, some draped over flipped-over cars, others just left to rot in the corner of the alleyway."

"... you sound like you were there yourself."

He stiffened considerably, eyes flashing away from me as quick as a fish would snatch away from a roaming human hand. "... I was in Towa City at the time... but I didn't partake in such actions." 

"Oh. Okay," I made a hand gesture at him. "Go on." 

"Finally, the killing died down... I don't know why Towa City was targeted, but it's possibly because of the air-purifier in the city."

"Air-purifier? Why would they target a city because of a freakin' air-purifier?" 

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" He sighed. "But that's not of importance. Nowadays, Towa City's numbers have been dwindling down again... eight or seven people go missing every twelve hours. Three days later, and always three days later, the bodies would appear at the graveyard, no matter what. No matter if they had guards patrolling the graveyard, as those guards would go missing."

"Eh... we should be fine as long as we're here and not in Towi, right?"

" _Towa._ But no, we're not going to be fine. If those kidnappings spread to the point where it infects this place as well... none of us are safe," Nagisa exhaled. "Although, it's usually all adults and no children..." 

My mouth ran dry. "The adults, again?"

"It seems so... I knew who was behind the genocide... Monaca Towa..."

There was that name. _Monaca_. 

"Who's this Monaca chick? I feel like I should know her, but I don't, so, uh, explain?" 

"It's fine if you don't know her. It's better if you don't," Nagisa examined his hands, and took particular interest in the mark that ran across his index finger and trailed across his knuckles. "She was... a girl in a wheelchair, I suppose. That's all you need to know, that and the fact she started a movement. An evil movement that I used to b-"

Cutting off suddenly, Nagisa went silent. "An evil movement, it was. That's what it was... killing. And it's started again."

"Like I said before, s'not like they're gonna get here all that quickly, so we'll be fine for the time being."

I stood, stretched, feeling the pleasing feeling of my muscles popping, despite them being active. "Wanna head back to the others?"

He scoffed. "Why would I do that? That's only spelling imprisonment for me. Don't tell them I'm here." 

"They'll find ya soon enough, but whatever."

I shut the door behind me, but through the wall, I could still hear his murmur of, "Why didn't I see the beast Monaca was sooner?" 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vainest of memories can only stir the slightest of hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I waited a bit to write this one, obtained more information on the several characters that appear/are mentioned in this chapter. Have to fix the tags now, since I add as I go on.

**< SONIA> **

"Where are we going, if I may ask?" I inquired, looking up at the large van that was in the garage.

Makoto rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Ah... Kyouko asked if I hold on telling you for now, and you'll... you'll see when we get there?"

Something resembling sadness and a tinge of regret glazed over his eyes, but Makoto quickly shook himself, as if to rid himself of his daze. "There's only two seats in the front, three if you include the flip-up one, which is for us..."

Attempting to smile, he stared up at the van. "So... um, sorry for that..."

"Oh, it will be just fine!" I nodded rapidly. "This is our first time outside in nearly the past month, so we will not complain!"

"It's our only method of transportation without getting questions," Makoto mumbled, then his gaze flashed to me. "So, can you, um, tell them?" 

"Yes, sir!"

I saluted, which Makoto responded to with a strained smile. Whipping around on my heel, I strode towards my group of three, four including me. 

"Naegi... do you really think this is a good idea?"

I bit my lip at Kyouko's calm and low voice, a voice I could barely hear, rather curious to what Kyouko meant.

_No, that is not proper behavior for a princess!_

With those words ringing out in my mind, I shook my head, ridding myself of Kyouko's own words and focusing on my companions.

"- I have no idea where we're going," Hajime was stating, his brow furrowed as he stared at the ground. "Even though, we should probably trust Makoto, Byakuya, and Kyouko, I have a sense of uneasiness..."

Almost all at the same time, instantly, Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, and I tensed. Hajime had a rather keen sixth sense- just like Akane, his gut had a rather accurate reading on things. 

"Nevermind," The brunet shook his head, "It's nothing, actually," he turned his attention to me. "Oh, hi, Sonia."

"Hello Hajime," I greeted in return with a bright smile. "Hello Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi. Apparently we're riding in the back of the van."

"The back...?" Fuyuhiko echoed, turning his golden-brown gaze on the said car. "... isn't it... like, empty...? With no seat belts or anything?"

"Yeah," Kazuichi chimed in. "W-What if we get into a car accident again?"

It seemed just the thought scared him as he dug his hands through his hair. "We could loose another two years worth of memories- maybe three, or four!" 

 "We're not going to, believe me."

I jerked in surprise, my hair whipping across and nearly smacking Byakuya Togami himself across the face.

The tall blond didn't blink, just looking over his glasses with smooth blue eyes and an arched eyebrow. 

"I hate complimenting or working with Kirigiri, but-"

"She's your boss." 

"... she won't crash," Byakuya adjusted his glasses, tight-lipped, probably because of the reminder Hajime offered that Kyouko was above him. "At least, unless she has obtained the brain capacity of a worm in the past few days, which is possible." 

Just like that, with his final insult to Kyouko's name, he turned his back on us and stalked away. 

"... I keep forgetting to remind myself that he's a complete and utter prick," Fuyuhiko muttered. 

"We all make mistakes." 

With Fuyuhiko letting loose a sigh, I caught glimpse of Kyouko, who had made her way around the car and was waving us into the car with one of her gloved hands. 

"Ah! We finally get to start our adventure!" I clapped my hands together, lifting my mouth up into a wide smile. 

Kyouko walked around back and opened the doors, revealing a somewhat sufficient place to sit. There was no sign of dust- if there was, either Kazuichi or Hajime would have a sneezing fit- and I crawled on up, on my hands and knees until I reached the very end of the space. 

Hajime was next, instead crouching rather then crawling, then sat next to yours truly. He was followed by Kazuichi, then Fuyuhiko, who mumbled something under his breath about disliking the area before also sitting down. 

I smiled at Kazuichi as he offered a sharp-toothed grin at me, throwing up a peace-sign as the entire place went dark and Kyouko shut the back. Soon, light filtered through the window because of Makoto sliding the window door open. 

"Hello again," he greeted with a small smile before turning back around. Most of his head blocked the way, but I could make out the taller form on the right side of Makoto, while Kyouko was on the left. 

That's when the garage door opened, and even Fuyuhiko winced- compared to the dim and muted lights of the building, the blinding light causing me myself to squint. 

"... that's a lamppost." 

"... We knew that."

As we pulled out of the garage, the car lurching as it did, and immediately Kazuichi squeaked. 

"Ah... Kazuichi, you okay?" I asked him, but the boy only pulled his beanie over his head and face, his dark morganite-colored eyes disappearing under the fabric. 

"I w-was so excited I-I forgot I h-have motion sickness," he whimpered. 

Hajime patted his shoulder awkwardly and scooted away from him as Kazuichi started rocking back and forth, hands tightly clenched. 

"Makoto," I called up front. "Do you think you could nudge your head to the side so we can see outside?"

He looked back at us, and from the small spaces on either side of his head, all I could see was dark, cloudy skies and barren land. 

"It's not much to look at," Byakuya sniffed. "Filthy. Nothing worth feasting your eyes upon." 

"We haven't been outside in ages," Hajime responded. "It doesn't matter."

"You're going to be outside at one point," the Togami snapped. "So cease your begging." 

We quieted down, and all that was heard was Kazuichi's quiet whimpering under his breath. To my surprise, Makoto slid the window shut, but not all the way. 

"Naegi, do you really think this is a good idea?"

"I told you, it'll be fine, Kyouko," the said boy responded. 

"We'll be stirring up memories of the Mutual Killing game," Kyouko responded, looking at Makoto with a hard glint in her purple eyes. "We're visiting the graves of our deceased classmates, and we're heading to Towa City. And you know whose's grave is there? Taichi Fujisaki. Yuta Asahina. And Natsumi Kuzuryuu, as well as the girl who killed her." 

With that, she turned her attention back to the wheel, although her grip was considerably tighter on the wheel, by the looks of it. 

"I've followed you in the past, but we might just avoid going to the graveyard altogether."

"I said, it'll be fine. I'm trusting in the machine, and it's only fair that they should, at least, get outside." 

It was clear she wasn't convinced. I looked over my shoulder, and Fuyuhiko met my gaze with his steely-eyed gaze, Hajime with his lips pursed next to him. After a moment, he waved at me in a way that signaled 'just forget about it for now'. 

But I just couldn't forget- she said Asahina, which was Aoi's last name. She also mentioned 'graves of deceased classmates' and 'Mutual Killing Game'. 

As I sat back, watching Kazuichi wince and grip at his beanie tighter, I rolled the names and phrases around my head. 

After what seemed like a good while, perhaps a couple of hours- Fuyuhiko had fallen asleep, Kazuichi had, on command of Byakuya, moved to the back of the truck and had quieted down because of the paper bag held around his mouth, and Hajime was staring at the floor in the daze. 

"We're here. Get your commoner selves out of this van," Byakuya ordered, but his eyes flashed to me. "Except for you- you're not a commoner, but you socialize with them, so I suppose that's the same thing..." 

Nudging Fuyuhiko, who woke with a start and stared at me through a sleepy haze, I flicked a hand towards the door, which had opened. Kazuichi nearly fell out because he had been leaning on it, yelping as he scrambled backwards, as fast as a fish darting from roaming human hands in the sea. 

"Get out," Byakuya said tactlessly. "If I say it again, I'll have Kirigiri drag you out."

"Just because you don't want to dirty your hands doesn't mean you get to say what your boss didn't agree to." 

With a huff, the tall Future Foundation member turned his back. 

"We're here, if you didn't notice," Kyouko said, her tone just as emotionless as Byakuya's earlier. I hopped down from the truck, lifting my head to marvel at the world around me.

It wasn't much compared to the world I was used to in Novoselic, with dark skies, streaks of purple stretching across the deep grey. 

"It's a beautiful world. Beauty is in the eye of the reholder!" I said excitedly.

"I think you mean beholder," Hajime corrected, landing next to me and straightening. 

"Ah, I'll fix that in my notebook immediately." 

"It's still not that much," Byakuya said shortly. "Worthless land. Not even good for growing crops." 

"It's just as worthless as you," Kyouko said, her expression not changing in the slightest. 

Makoto winced. "Now, now-"

In an instant, Byakuya and Kyouko engaged in a verbal agreement, the former with his brow furrowed and mouth quirked into a sneer, while the latter's expression still did not change. 

"We... should leave them to that..." Kazuichi bit his lip, inching away from the two, still looking pale from the trip. 

"They get in a cat-fight almost every day," Makoto laughed awkwardly. "I've tried to stop it, but with no luck... oh, we have to walk some distance to get there, hope you don't mind..." 

"It'll be good to stretch our legs after being in that position for so long," Fuyuhiko shrugged, raising his arms over his head with a pop. 

"I agree," I spoke, clapping my hands together. Kazuichi groaned in response, but he locked his hands behind his hand, looking expectantly at Makoto, who slid his hands into his pocket, and with his head held high, starting walking in a certain direction. 

We walked after him.

It seemed like only minutes when Makoto stopped, turning to face us. "We're here."

"A graveyard?!" Kazuichi screeched, grabbing his beanie. "Hell no!" 

"If you're going to raise your pathetic voice any higher, I will personally rip your vocal cords out," Byakuya basically spat. "And you would feel honored I would dirty my hands with such an action." 

Kazuichi yelped again, shrinking away from the blonde as he dealt yet another insult against Kyouko, who replied in a low tone of voice.

My eyes drifted to the said graveyard, and my nerves buzzed- with either excitement or fear, I didn't know. 

It was simple, brown grass covering the ground, in patches scattered across the area. Most of the graves centered around a huge cross that rested in the middle. 

Unlocking the gate, Makoto stepped in, a solemn look settling onto his face, and started to head to the very back, Kyouko and Byakuya following close behind. 

I spared a glance at Hajime, who shrugged and started to walk after Kyouko, sometimes glancing side to side as he examined the graves. Kazuichi was still by the gate, and when I raised an eyebrow at him with a beaming smile, he waved his hands in a 'no thanks' gesture.

"Kazuichi," I protested. "Please?"

"Urrrgh... f-fine..." 

Cautiously, he shuffled to my side, biting down hard on his lip. 

We reached a small bundle of graves, graves that were arranged in a circle, perhaps fifteen of them.

Kneeling at a certain one, Makoto bowed his head. "Hey, Sayaka... you're doing okay, aren't you? Yeah... we got justice for you, even though I'm not happy with how all this turned out..."

He shuffled on over to the next grave, which was beside 'Sayaka's'. "Leon... you were unfairly killed, weren't you? It wasn't fair that any of us died, but you... it was just self-defense.

Next grave.

"Hey, Chihiro... thank you. Thank you so much. You're so talented, and one of the sweetest people I have ever met, and you created Alter Ego, which saved my life... i can't explain my gratitude." 

"You were just protecting Chihiro's secret, weren't you, Mondo? That's someone I admire..." Makoto managed a weak smile. "Besides the fact you knocked me out when we first met. Don't feel bad, you just lost control..."

"You're with Mondo now, aren't you, Kiyotaka? You died without knowing what was going on... but I'm still following the rules... I remind myself not to run in hallways." 

"Yamada... just like Kiyotaka, you didn't know what was going on... you were so confused, unfairly manipulated."

The next grave had edges that were burnt. "Celestia... your exchange with Kyouko helped us in the end. You tricked your heart, yet you saved our lives..." 

 "Sakura... Aoi misses you, you know? However, she became stronger because of your sacrifice. You did it, not for just Aoi, but all of us..."

As he moved, Makoto cleared his throat. "Mukuro... just like everyone, you were killed unfairly... it's not your fault. It'll never be your fault... we all miss you."

A ripple of pain shot through my head, and I winced, my hand flying to my temple at the name. _Mukuro._

As if her words would explain anything, Kyouko glanced towards us. "Our classmates died in an accident."

As Makoto was about to move to the next one and speak, there was a crash. Byakuya jumped up, his eyes narrowed. 

"Naegi! We need to move, now!" 

The brunet jerked upwards. "But-"

"There's smoke in the sky!" Kazuichi cried out, another crash vibrating through our ears. 

"We can all see that!" Fuyuhiko retorted. 

That's when a blur of orange, grey, and yellow hurled towards the ground and exploded. 

"Run, run, run!"

I grabbed two random hands and sprinted in the other direction, my heart roaring in my ears as a chunk of dirt slammed against my shoulder blade. Behind us, someone cried out in alarm. 

"Dammit!" The person that was holding my right hand swore. 

My feet pounded, an ache radiating in my legs. 

"This way!"

There was only one voice that could be so scathing and sharp at the same time. On my left, Byakuya yanked us off to the left, nails digging hard into my pallid skin. 

We ran for several more minutes until the Future Foundation member dragged us down some kind of alleyway and pulled us over. 

I finally left go of his hand, and cast a gaze to my right, seeing Kazuichi's crooked smile before he also let go of my hand, hanging on for a few seconds before he did so. 

Byakuya stood at the corner, peering out as crashes bellowed out, calling and screaming as dust sprayed up like a geyser. 

That's when I saw it- a glimpse of pink in the corner of my eye. 

As if he noticed it too, Byakuya stiffened, then called. "I demand you come out."

"Aw, it would've been sooooo funny if I had caught you like I did before!" A female voice giggled. 

Byakuya's eyebrow raised. 

"So, this is the heir Fufu was talking about..."

Byakuya's other eyebrow raised as two people came out of the shadows.

The first one was shorter then the second, her arms drawn to her chest. Her pink hair was cut choppily, stopping just before her shoulders in a tight cut and a fringe rested off to the right side of her face. 

The other one was older then her, a cigarette held between her hands and wisps of smoke drifting off the object. Just like the girl, she had pink hair, although it was much longer and flowed around her shoulders. 

Byakuya took a step back, setting his jaw. "You. I know who both of you are."

"Do you really?" The smoker raised an eyebrow, her brown eyes curious. "I've only heard of you through Fufu."

"Hiroko Hagakure," Byakuya addressed her. "And you..." 

The pink-eyed girl cocked her head. "Ehhh... don't tell me you've forgotten me already?"

"... Kotoko Utsugi." 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children, no older then teenagers, who were more hurt by words then anything else just because they trusted in someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the 'Mom' statement was on purpose. Whee, I love writing a much more mature... him.

**< FUYUHIKO> **

As the bomb shook the ground, a shuddering crack slicing through the air, I ran, my feet pounding against the coarse ground. 

"W-" 

The voice that was seemingly close to me died, and I burst into a coughing fit as dirt raked my lungs, a dull ache rooting itself in the pit of my heart. 

"Fuyuhiko!"

"People are still calling my name," I muttered, then snapped my jaw shut as I could feel bits and pieces of dirt and sand coat the workings of my mouth. 

Another crash rocked my world, plums of smoke rising in heaps of clouds. I ducked my head, accidentally biting down on my tongue and invoking pain (but at this point, I preferred it over _this_ ), the thud in my ears evident, oh-so evident. 

A demon sat on my lungs as I sucked in a breath, focused on holding it until I got out of the range of the worse of dirt and sand. 

Someone started coughing beside me, and I looked to the side, my eyes burning to make out something sticking up from a brown mop of hair. "H-Hajime?" 

"It's- _cough_ \- Makoto," he wheezed, "now, just follow me!" 

He stole forward, arms pumping at his sides (although he wasn't that fast) and all I could do is follow after him, a hand clamped over my mouth. 

"Hey! _Hey!_ Over here!" 

Immediately, I started to veer towards the voice, and I could barely make out the shadow of a hand waving around, fingers stretched up towards the sky. "Makoto!" 

The form of Makoto paused, and I saw him look sideways. "What? Fuyuhiko, I'm guilty of this, but we can't just trust someone!"

"Do you _want_ to die?!" 

"I think I know what I'm doing!" 

"You think," I quoted, then started to sprint towards where the voice had called me. 

"Fuyuhiko-! Wait!" 

As I neared, I could see details of the person- the way the light caught his hair almost make it seem orange, but I had to guess it was either red or blonde. What seemed like headphones were settled around his neck, white and red. Blue eyes that were brighter than Byakuya's peered at me through the haze, unblinking as he waved me over. 

I finally broke my breath as I stopped before them. "You can help me?" 

The boy, who couldn't be much older then me, chewed the inside of his lip, knuckles resting on the groove of his hip. "I could," he said at last, a cocky smile playing at his lips before he shook his head. "Sorry, bad habit. Yeah, I can."

Another explosion. 

He didn't seem all that fazed, running his hand through his red (I could properly see the color now), spiked hair. "Oh, your friend's coming."

I was about to turn when a hand met my shoulder, and I caught glimpse of brown hair. Makoto straightened, taking his hand off my shoulder, breathing heavily.

"Why'd... y... you run... off...?"

"Good grief, you're unfit," the boy commented, leaning over to peer at Makoto.

As if on cue, both of their eyes widened. 

"I know you!"

"I remember you from somewhere!" 

"I would expect that you do," Makoto answered sheepishly. I decided to keep quiet, my brow furrowed as I looked between them. "I mean, with the whole Warriors of Hope incident... what was your name again?"

The redhead puffed out his cheeks. "It's Masaru. Masaru Daimon."

The name stirred something in my mind, of a boy looking similar to Masaru but younger, screaming and crying out. Of a green-haired girl, who clapped her hands together and smiled creepily. 

In an instant, those memories were gone. 

I shook my head, pressing one hand to my ear. "Ugh..."

"You okay?" Makoto asked me. I nodded, turned back to Masaru, and bit my lip as he stared down at Makoto, his eyebrows brought together. 

"Makoto Naegi, was it?"

"Um, yeah," Makoto nodded. 

"Yeah, 'course I remember ya." 

I opened my mouth to say something, but as another crash shook the ground, I closed my mouth and shut down the question I was about to ask. 

Masaru almost looked happy, his lips twitching into something resembling a smile as he looked side to side. "Shit, that was closer," he grinned even wider. "Whoever's firing these things are really putting up a good game."

"Language," Makoto muttered as if that was the most of our worries right now. 

"Fuck," Masaru said again while looking at Makoto, as if to make a point. "I can swear all I want. Fuck. Shit. Whore. Son of a bitch." 

Makoto frowned, about to say something when another 'bomb' went off, and so did Masaru, whipping around on his heel and sprinting in the other direction... in the direction of the circle of graves where we were previously at. 

"H-Hey! Where are you going?"

Yet he didn't answer, the frame of his shoulders disappearing in the haze of the smoke and dust waves, a rocket speeding between the craters.

"We're going to lose him," I said under my breath. "Makoto, come on!" 

With that, I started to run after him, a stitch in my side, but I ran nonetheless. Not long after that, I could make out Masaru's red mop of hair, and didn't look back to see if Makoto was following me.

Masaru skidded to a stop, whipping around to check over his shoulder, and upon seeing me, offered me a thumbs-up, his eyes wide with glee. 

"Why'd you just-"

He brought a finger to his lips, turned back around, and kept running.

After what felt like an hour (which probably was, in reality, maybe a span of a few minutes), because that stitch in my side was really bothering me, I found Masaru crouched behind a grave, and once I collapsed beside him, he pulled me into the shadow behind the grave.

"Stay quiet. Where's the other guy?" 

I shrugged, a hand pressed to my chest as I felt my heartbeat thrum beneath my fingers.

Rather then the playful glaze to his eyes, it was more protective, his eyebrows furrowing and set in an angry manner. One hand was curled into a fist, raised up and pressed against the sharp corner of the grave, while the other was braced against the floor, one side of his knuckles smeared with dirt. 

I heard heavy breathing, and I snapped my head over to the direction it came in just before Makoto basically tripped in front of me, one shoe flying off his foot and landing some distance behind us. Dirt now dusted the front of his clothing, but he didn't seem to mind it as he straightened and sat up on his knees. 

"You okay?" I whispered to him.

He nodded, glancing over his shoulder to look at the redhead, whose's expression was dark.

"Masaru, there's more space over there," I pointed to the grave some distance away from us. Rather then an upraised block much like the one we were currently behind, this one had a simple cross with some writing on it that I couldn't make out.  A slab of refined stone was set out behind it, giving more protection.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

His eyes never flicked to me, but as he waved a hand at me, eyes still trained on where the biggest clots of dust spewed up, I shifted to that I was balancing on the balls of my feet, my feet arched and heels raised off the ground. 

There was a span of little under half a minute whenever each bomb went off, so when a thunderous boom rolled across the area, I darted from my spot and started to run. 

Just before I reached it, the world shook again, my time passing. I immediately coughed, turning my head to the side to spit some saliva out and dove, my elbows hitting a layer of soil and dirt, using my arms and elbows to crawl and wriggle on forward. 

Once I was safely behind the shelter of the grave, I dusted off my hands and looked over at the other two. Makoto had taken my spot, so he wasn't hit by as many dirt specks as he was beforehand. 

My stomach only squirmed lightly at the thought of the fact that, just beneath my hands, possibly less then one or two meters below the placement of my limbs, was a dead body.

A dead body. Something that was no longer breathing, no longer living. 

I bit my tongue on accident, and drew my knees to my chest.

However, my eyes strayed to the cross, the cross that I was sitting next to, with simple grey designs etched into what seemed like marble. In the tiny space was a name. 

**N A T S U M I  K U Z U R Y U U**

With a hiss, a hand flew up to cradle my temple, waves of pain shuddering through my brain. "U-Ugh..." 

Gritting my teeth, I drew my eyes to the ground, front tooth digging deep into my bottom lip, and I could taste the metallic tang of blood on the tip of my tongue. 

The headache didn't reside as I sat, but only got worse as loud booms echoed in my ears.

That is, until they stopped. 

It was silent for a good two minutes, and the ache in my head slowly reduced to a dull pain.

"It's cool, Fuyuhiko," Masaru called.

I frowned.

_Did I ever tell him my name...? It could be possible he picked it up from Makoto... but he looked completely comfortable with saying it, as he's said it before... maybe Makoto told it to him._

I pulled myself to my feet with slow movements, the other two following my movements. 

"You two are fine?" Makoto asked, looking over us. 

"Yeah." 

"I'm fine." 

Masaru glanced at me after I spoke, raking a hand through his mess of hair. "You're not as cautious as before," he muttered. 

. _.. before?_

I didn't miss the way Makoto stiffened. "U-Um, Masaru-" 

"What do you mean?" I shot a look at Makoto, then returned my attention to him. 

"Whaddya mean, what do you mean? Remember, in Towa City..." Masaru trailed off, then inspected me, his nose wrinkling up. "You're him, aren't you?"

"Who?"

"Fuyuhiko K-" 

"Can... can we get out of here?" Makoto cut him off, looked much too uncomfortable for my liking. 

Masaru looked over at him, mouth quirking into a frown before he nodded. "Sure, whatever. You guys got a ride?"

"Um, yeah, but our friends-"

Masaru waved it off with an easy laugh. Compared to the narrow-minded and focused aura he had given when he was behind the grave earlier, this seemed much more light-hearted. 

"It's fine," he said with a grin, hands on his hips and a confident smile. "I can send my friends out. It's cool." 

Makoto still looked uncertain, glancing behind him for any sign of people like Hajime or Kyouko, but no one appeared out of the of dust and smoke. 

"... okay..." 

"All right! Mom likes cooking for other people, even though she's hardly ever there since, you know, she does... smoke and stuff, and she knows I hate both cigarettes and alcohol..." 

For a minute, Makoto looked confused, staring at the young boy with a complex expression, but quickly shook it off. "All right... which way, Masaru...?" 

Masaru turned in a full circle before locating what seemed like an old building and pointed. "Down that way for about five minutes, then turn right."

"We're not gonna remember that." 

"I know that, but you guys can move your legs, am I right?" He snorted, seeming to find himself funny. 

I only raised an eyebrow at him, but slid a hand into my pockets, starting to walk in the direction that he pointed in. The shuffle of feet told me that they were followed, but the faintness implied that they were farther behind.

"You've changed."

Someone snorted. " 'Course I have. Do you think I'm gonna stick to Monaca's beliefs forever?"

"Komaru told me that you promised Monaca that you would die as a kid rather then become an adult."

"Well, that's changed now, like I said," a bit of irritation seeped into Masaru's voice. "I would never follow her now. She's a back-stabber, through and through!" 

"Komaru's going to be glad to hear that you're growing up. She actually told me about you guys- she told me that you were a... ah, what was it... an immature brat."

"What? No!" 

I hid a snicker. 

 "And... you came back into contact with your mom?"

There was a pause, a silence that seemed to smother Masaru's words. They were soft. 

"... I never saw my real biological mother again." 

Makoto went quiet.

I decided it would probably be rude if I eavesdropped further, so I started to pick up my pace, the clop of my feet against the ground louder then their murmurings. 

"Turn right here, Fuyuhiko," Masaru called up to me, and I halted, facing my right, which was just a dark street with only one light, one that flickered on and off continuously. 

"It's down there?" I asked him. He stopped beside me, nodding. I didn't like the feel of going first, and Masaru seemed to catch onto that, clapping me hard on the back. 

"It's all right, Lord Masaru Daimon is here to save ya!"

"There's no saving to be done," I muttered. 

"Whatever," he waved it off and started to walk, the frame of his shoulders and form of his headphones disappearing as darkness embraced his body. "Come on!"

I took a deep breath and followed him.

There was the sounds of clangs as he kicked cans aside, metal screeching across pavement in a long, drawn-out sound, and I winced. 

Masaru kneeled by two doors that were slightly upraised on the ground, on an angle. 

"A... cellar, I think?" Makoto said when I shared a dubious look in his direction.

"Yeah. It's a cellar, but it's home nonetheless." 

With that, Masaru rapped twice, paused for about five seconds, and did it once more. 

The doors opened without him touching it.

"Yo," Masaru greeted with a mock salute to whoever was in the darkness. "Found myself some strays that are staying here for a while." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things cannot be unseen by the heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mentions of the Tragedy was taken directly from the wikipedia

**< AKANE>** 

I left Nagisa in the hospital room, just like he asked. Stretching, and hearing something pop after being kept in a sitting position, I walked down the hallway. 

There was the patter of footsteps, and Aoi appeared at the end of the hallway, her blue eyes wide. "Akane! Have you seen Nagisa?"

"Nope," I lied, adding a grin. 

Aoi raised an eyebrow, probably at her confusion to why I was smiling. Picking at my ear with a fingernail, I shrugged. "Told ya, didn't see him since he ran away from Hagakura." 

"Hagakure," she corrected me. "Well, thanks! Tell me or one of the others if you see him, okay?!"

With that, she shot off. 

"Hey, can we fight later?" I hollered down the hallway.

"Sure!" She called back over her shoulder, skidding to a stop and offering me a quick thumbs-up and a wide smile before she started to run again. 

Cracking my knuckles, I started to walk again. 

That was when I came upon a door.

Glancing over my shoulder, I realized that I had walked too far without me realizing where I was going and now I was in a hallway I didn't recognize, with its' steel walls hardly polished compared to the rest of them around the building. I could hardly see myself in the reflection, while with the others, I could see myself _too_ easily.

A single door rested at the end of the hallway, with a brass handle and a single word imprinted on the door. _PRIVATE._

"Everyone should know that when somethin' says 'PRIVATE', people wanna figure out what it is," I muttered, taking a few quick strides towards the door. 

The brass handle was cold to touch, colder then most thing I've felt. 

With a deep inhale, I pushed it towards and entered. 

The room was dark besides a single screen that was a deep blue in color, green coding floating across the screen with fine detail. I felt around for a light-switch but found none, so I walked forward until my leg bumped into the chair. 

Feeling around, I took a seat at the chair, and kicked my legs up, my ankles landing on the surface that was in front of me. 

Instead, something clanked on the surface, knocking into another object. I immediately sat up, laughing sheepishly. "Whoops..."

With that, I reached forward, my hands finding a rope and tugged. A small light lit up, dim, and only shed light in a small surface, barely reaching the space around me. 

Reaching out, I took the picture frame, which was the object that fell onto the stand of the lamp, and held it gingerly.

It had an aura, one leaking of a tale of pain and grief, so as I examined the thick wooden edges carefully, I had to make sure not to drop it. Someone like Byakuya Togami would have my head if they found out I was in a private room, probably. 

Fingers ghosting over the surface, the picture seemed like one of those old high-school photos, something you'd want to keep but at the same time, want to throw away. 

A muscular girl seemed to stand in the center of the picture, and I immediately smiled at the thought of fighting her.

 _She could probably give one hell of a challenge!_  

However, her smile was gentle, and her hand rested on the head of a (quite) chubby brunet boy, who had some sort of cat-face (like, those ones you use in texts or something? Like a sideways three?) and holding a camera. 

On either side of him was a purple-haired girl and a brown-haired boy with his hair sticking up like an antenna. 

"Eh... that's Kyouko and Makoto, right?" I peered closer. 

It did seem to look like them when they were younger- Makoto's face was a bit more babyish, which was expected, and he was wearing a hoodie compared to the suit-uniform-thing he wore known. Kyouko had a side-braid in her hair, as she did now, and was wearing something quite formal.

On the right of Makoto was a blue-haired girl, her face caught in an angelic smile.

_Is that... the famous idol or something, Sayaka Maizono?_

Next to Sayaka was an red-haired boy, whose's hair was almost orange, grin about as wide as mine could be. 

Behind him was a girl, whose's mouth was in a polite smile, head tilted slightly to the side and hand brought to her mouth. Two large ringlets, which reminded me of drills, spiraled down on either side of her, black- her hair, maybe? Her pose reminded me of Sonia's elegance, but her red eyes did nothing to help- and neither did her black-with-white-frills dress. 

Next to her was a guy whose's hair looked like a corn-cob, but he looked quite happy, with a closed-eyed smile and a wild thumbs-up to match. 

Wild hair, but no glasses.

"Hagakura or Hagakure..."

Sure enough, it seemed to be the guy I met earlier, just without his glasses or his hair pulled back. 

Then, on the other side of Kyouko (who had an expression just as the same as she usually does nowadays) was a pigtailed girl, cheek resting against her palm, strawberry-blonde hair flowing off her shoulders.

At the sight of her, pain sparked in my mind.

I hissed, nearly dropping the frame and brought my other hand to rap against my skull.

"C'mon now, this is nothin'..." I gritted my teeth. "Don't you dare show weakness...!"

As my dark-brown eyes raked the picture and moved to the tan girl next to the pigtailed one, another shudder ran through me. The blue eyes, brown hair, and tan skin were hard to mistake. 

"Hina... Aoi Asahina..."

They were all classmates, maybe?

Behind Aoi was two people I also recognized, the blonde with his nose upturned at the camera- Byakuya Togami- and the dark-haired girl next to him, one that was in the very same building as I was now- Touko.

Next to Byakuya was a boy in a school uniform, blaring white and arm brought up in a salute, but he still looked happy. Next to him was a brown-haired, mousey girl, captured dressed in all green clothes and a timid smile.

I smiled. "Aw. Cute."

If Makoto, Kyouko, Aoi, Touko, Yasuhiro, and Byakuya stayed together after they finished their school years, what happened to the rest of their classmates? 

Setting the picture aside, I turned my attention to the computer screen before reaching out and slamming two fingers into what I thought was a keyboard.

The screen fully lit up, offering more light then the little lamp, words of code flashing across the screen in green and brown before the computer went black. Still in an instant, it turned on again, this time now with a background of dim green before a head appeared.

It was almost identical to the girl next to the white-clothed guy in the picture.

"Um... hello?" 

"Hey...?"

They didn't respond, looking side to side until I noticed the blinking cursor in the text-box that was placed below the floating head. 

_'Hey...?'_

They brightened. "Ah! Hello! Who's there?"

_'One of the residents in this building. Who are you?'_

"I'm known as Alter Ego," Alter Ego blinked, looking side to side. "Last time I remember, Mister Makoto said that he was putted me in a private room so I could oversee all the Neo World Program patients on my own without disturbance... I wish I could do something for them..."

' _The Neo World Program?'_

"Um... if you were let in this room, I think it's okay if you would know... the Neo World Program is also known Psychotherapeutic Communication Simulator, or the Hope Restoration Program." 

_'What'd it do?'_

"Future Foundation put subjects into it to try and reduce the trauma caused by the Tragedy..." At this, Alter Ego looked uncertain, biting their lip. 

_'The Tragedy....?'_

Alter Ego frowned. "The Tragedy... is a incident that was well-known around the world... chaos befell the world... um, I could show you, if you'd would like..." 

_'Yeah, that'd be great if you could tell me some information.'_

Alter Ego's avatar disappeared, replaced with a page. 

**Facing financial ruin, Hope's Peak Academy decided to allow students without exceptional abilities to attend the academy for an immensely high fee in the hopes of continuing its search for extremely talented individuals. These people were known as the 'Reserve Course'.**

**Haijme Hinata, in an attempt to become part of the main course he long admired, applied for an experiment for artificial augmentation, renaming himself Izuru Kamukura and gaining the title of Ultimate Hope in the process; however, his existence was kept a secret from even the main course students.**

I frowned. _Hajime...?_ It couldn't be the same Hajime I knew, right? Izuru Kamukura would be here instead of Hajime if that was true. 

**Junko, in her desire to spread despair, forced the Student Council of Hope's Peak into the first known mutual-killing game known as The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy.**

At the name Junko, another lash of pain whipped against the walls of my brain, but I kept reading. 

**All the participants except Izuru and the heavily wounded student council president were killed. The events were broadcast to the reserve course, greatly upsetting them - in their view, the academy had apparently spent the exorbitant fees they had paid to create murderers.**

**In response, the Reserve Course students rebelled and protested, not realizing that they were being manipulated from the shadows by Junko and her organization, Ultimate Despair. This social unrest soon became a movement that spread outside the academy's walls, with people everywhere protesting against the wealthy and talented.**

**The first Mutual Killing Game was also known as the Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy.**

I exited the browser-thing to tap the text in.

_'The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy? How is that well-known around the world?'_

"There's more information..." was Alter's Ego only response, although they didn't appear on screen. 

**The Reserve Course students did rebel, but it ended up in a mass suicide of 2,357 Reserve Course Students.**

_Mass... suicide of... 2,357 people?_

**As despair started to reach the outer-workings of Hope's Peak Academy and start to affect the world, the movement soon engulfed the world, becoming more violent by the day; chaos and death quickly became a normal part of society, and the major world-wide phenomenon known as The Tragedy (the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history) was born.**

**In response to these dire developments, Hope's Peak Academy decided to cease operations as an educational facility, effectively transforming the school into a shelter for the remaining students. Unfortunately, Junko hijacked the plan from within the locked-down facility by Jin Kirigiri and erasing the memories of the other survivors, except those of her fellow conspirator and twin sister, Mukuro Ikusaba With that done, Junko plotted to use the Ultimate students as a means to finally erase the last shreds of hope in the ravaged world, setting into motion the events of the first game.**

**In the end, many students died, as well as Junko Enoshima herself. There were six suriviors to that killing game- Makoto Naegi, who was bestowed the title 'Ultiamte Hope' upon defeating Junko Enoshima, Kyouko Kirigiri, Byakuya Togami, Aoi Asahina, Touko Fukawa, and Yasuhiro Hagakure.**

My breathing went still.

Everyone I saw in that picture from beforehand... those were the students. The students that died in the killing game.

The reason why the group of six stuck together is because they were the survivors. 

**The biggest, most awful, most tragic event in all of Hope's Peak Academy's history was actually only the beginning to what would be the world's end. This event lead the reserve-course students to rebel…**

**At first, it was optimistically thought that everything would calm down soon, but the situation worsened and quickened its pace. The movement happened on the Internet, and formed a community of its own.**

**Soon, not just students were involved. The rebellion came to include people of various races and nationalities in its development and spread off the internet and into real life.**

**At the beginning of the movement, it involved demonstrations regarding social issues, but as it spread through the world, its abnormality began to show. At some point in time, the motives and modus operandi changed, and left behind only meaningless destruction and violence.**

**Strong people killed weak people...**

**Weak people murdered even weaker people...**

**Weak people formed factions and lynched strong people**

**As the violence and death spread, people became desensitized. As if time had gone backwards, people took death to become a certainty. The media reports overflowed with death, and people ate as they watched. By the time the world had noticed the abnormality, it was already too late.**

**The overpowering “despair” became a huge wave that swallowed up the world in the blink of one's eye...**

**Soon, terrorists and coup d'etats sprang up and caused the despair that is war. It wasn't war that happened due to the clash of ideals, religion or profits…It was just war.**

**Pure war.**

**Therefore, no way to solve the problem was found. However, the question still remained…how did what was originally a students' movement develop into such a despair-worthy situation? This was because of... the existence of “a certain group of people”.**

**It revolved around the “certain students” who led Hope's Peak Academy to its destruction; a group called “Ultimate Despair”.**

**Their talents, recognized by Hope's Peak Academy, were used not “for the sake of causing hope for humanity”... They used their talents “for the sake of causing despair for humanity”. Those who held great power brainwashed ordinary citizens to spread despair...**

**Those who had talent with computers created software to spread despair...**

**Those who had great influence over people created new ideals to spread despair.**

**This is how the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history was produced. Indeed, as long as “Ultimate Despair” exists, this despair will not end...**

**The biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history will not end...**

The page cut off there.

_'What... Alter Ego, there's gotta be more, right?'_

"I can give you advice on Izuru Kamukura, if you would wish..."

i jerked upright as I heard a sneeze, stiffly turning around.

Nothing moved for about three seconds.

"KEYAHAHA! HI THERE, YOU SNEAK!"

Ovals of red flew at me, along with a glint of metal, and that's all I registered before something hard slammed into my skin, shock sparking throughout my body, and the ground rushed up to meet me.

-

"Oi, you!"

I turned around, finding myself floating. Looking down, there was nothing below my feet for kilometers.

The voice seemingly echoed around me, and as I turned around again and again, a girl finally appeared in my vision.

She had her hands on her hips, mouth cocked into a sneer and nose upturned as if she was looking down at me. Dusty-blonde hair scattered around her shoulders, dim olive-green eyes narrowed.

"So you're one of my brother's classmates, huh?"

"... eh?"

"Tch. It's a surprise that you were in Hope's Peak Academy at all," she scoffed, spitting at the ground. "Why is it that you were recognized with a talent and I wasn't...?" 

"Huh?"

"Good grief, you're stupid."

She took a couple more steps towards me, fist grinding into the curve of her hip to jab me in the chest.

"Oi. If my brother dies, I'm gonna blame you, okay? I'm gonna trust ya to take care of him."

"Can you explain to me what's going on?!"

A hand seemingly reached out of the fog to grasp the blonde's shoulder, who whipped back to look at it as another human being exited out of the fog.

"Young Mistress," the grey-haired girl addressed her. "She will not comply if you do not explain to her what you are asking clearly."

'Young Mistress' snorted. "She's a dumbass. Dumbasses like those are rare, Peko." 

'Peko's' gaze moved from her to stare at me. "Protect him. Protect the Young Master. Protect her brother, Akane Owari."

_Owari. Is that... my last name?_

With that, 'Peko' and 'Young Mistress' disappeared.

Just as everything started to fall apart, cracks staring to appear in the sky and ground, I caught glimpse of a broad-shouldered person walking away from me. I started to run, run away from where I had been frozen towards him, but he seemed to stay a good distance away from me.

_Huh... a challenge?_

"Yo!" I called out. "Wait up!"

For a second, just for a second, they looked back at me. Dark hair, dark eyes, scars on his face, and lightning bolts sparking from his eyes.

Everything fell apart.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Change is never for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. I have to change this to an AU because the warriors of hope appeared... also, it took me quite a while to write this chapter. Wasn't feeling it.

**< SONIA> **

"Huuuuuuh...? You haven't changed at all!" The younger girl, the one named Kotoko, puffed out her cheeks, looking at Byakuya.

"I don't want to change. I'm fine where I am."

"People change," Hiroko mused. "But never... almost never for the better. If they do change for the better... it destroys them from the inside."

Kotoko's eyes drifted over to Kazuichi and me, and a strange smirk took hold of her lips. "Awwww, Sonia~! You look so adorbs with that bow! Kazuichi... you have a terrible fashion sense, as usual."

Kazuichi spluttered out a response, which was a mix of curses and random words while I stared at the pink-haired girl, my brow furrowing.

"As... usual?" I echoed.

She cocked her head, her cut hair swaying. "Don't you remember?" She hopped over to me. "Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?"

"Um... if we met during our high school years, I am sorry to inform you that I do not remember since I got hit in an accident!"

Kotoko huffed. "Awwwwww, I remember when you used to play with us all the time... the bodies were fun to dance on, you know~!"

My blood went cold, chill rooting itself in my heart and veins as I stared at her, eyes wide. She merely giggled in response, laughing at my expression in a manner that made me want to squirm. "B... Bodies?"

"That's enough," Byakuya cut in.

"Hey, did you guys notice that the bombs stopped?" Hiroko asked, taking a drag from her cigarette.

Everyone paused for a moment, in wait for the thunderous boom, but it never came. Kazuichi looked overly nervous, chewing at his bottom lip, which drew several droplets of blood because of his sharp teeth. Byakuya had his face drawn into a heavy frown, while Hiroko and Kotoko both looked like they couldn't care less.

"Welp!" The latter chirped. "Why are you guys camping out here? I mean, I know Togami over here, but you two? I had noooooooo idea!"

Kazuichi shifted uncomfortably, then yelped as Kotoko got up and close to his face. 

"What about it, Kazuichi?"

He squirmed under her pink-eyed gaze. 

Byakuya let out a small 'tch', looking at Hiroko. "Can we leave?" 

"I'm not stoppin' you," the woman said with the wave of her hand. 

He looked over at us, blue eyes raking over the whimpering Kazuichi (who currently had Kotoko repeatedly poking him in the ribs and cheek), as well as me, who sat brushing off lint of my clothing. "You two. Let's go."

Kotoko stopped from where she was poking the mechanic. "Oh! Oh! Can we come with you?"

"Absolutely not."

"Aw, c'mon! It'll be fun! Besides, Masaru's here somewhere, too! Don't you want to see him?"

"If I see that brat again, I will personally order the guard to go and execute him." 

"Heh. You're more prickly than I thought," Hiroko said with a snort. 

Eye twitching, he chose to ignore the woman's comment, looking at both Kazuichi and I. "Well. Let's move." 

"Yes, sir," Kazuichi grumbled, then shifted away from Kotoko, who had gone back to doing her previous action. 

"If that's sarcasm, I still am upholding the threat of cutting your tongue out," Byakuya said coldly, starting to move towards the entryway of the alley, giving one last look over at Hiroko and Kotoko as Kazuichi and I followed him. To our surprise, the two were following behind the heir, and as Byakuya's gaze fell upon them, the younger girl cocked her head innocently. 

"What? We just happened to be going the same way!" Kotoko puffed out her cheeks, "Our secret base- whoops!" She covered her mouth. "Right! We're not supposed to say that we have a secr- whoops!" 

Hiroko patted her head fondly. "That's my girl."

"Of course, I'm not gonna let it slip, mom!"

Byakuya's eyebrow twitched. "Mom?"

"Of course, I'm not their biological mother, but I kinda just took in the kids, ya know? I mean, blue-head helped me, but now he's gone, so I've got take care of this little fighter and two others. You looked surprised, heir." 

"Th- they're the ones that-"

I frowned at the sight of the craters that dominated the graveyard.

"Yeah, yeah, I know all about their families," Hiroko waved it off, and I spared a glance at Kazuichi, who shrugged in response. Rather than saying anything, I just listened. "They've changed, trust me. You mention Picklesatan or whatever her name is and Masaru starts blabbing on how he would kick her butt." 

"Pickle... satan?" Kazuichi echoed blankly. 

Hiroko snorted. "Yup. Pickest- oh... that your... truck thing?" 

At her words, we averted our gaze to the smoking hunk of metal that lay on its' side. 

"... I think that was," Kazuichi managed. "I mean..."

He hurried on over, touching the jagged edge of the open car door. "It's hot!" he warbled, immediately jerking his hand back, holding his palm with his own hand, the skin red and irritated from the touch. 

"Yeah, I can't fix it 'till it cools down," he muttered, looking a bit sad that he was (basically) worthless. "I don't even know if I could do anythin' with this piece of scrap metal." 

"If he calls it metal scrap, I do doubt that we can do anything with it!"

"Scrap metal," Hiroko said, waggling a finger at Sonia. "Foreigner?"

"Foreigner," Kazuichi cut in quickly, sending me an praising look. "Right, Sonia!"

The emotion lurking behind his words made my gut want to squirm, but I shook it off, then glancing at Byakuya, Hiroko, and Kotoko, I gestured at them to go on. "I just... I just need to talk to Kazuichi, that's all." 

With the upturn of his nose, Byakuya clicked his tongue before moving away from the car, talking to Hiroko in a harsh, forced undertone while Kotoko chattered to him in a bubbly voice, but they were far away to the point where I couldn't tell apart any of the words. 

"Sonia, you want to talk to me? Alone?" A blush settled on his cheeks. 

"I- Yes, Kazuichi, I do!"

He let out a muffled squeak, before waving a hand over his face. "S-Sorry!" 

"It's fine. I would just... I would just like to speak to you about you having a crush on me."

 _"Hah?!_ Is it that obvious?!"

I laced my fingers together, staying at the ground, then started to speak.

"It is as if you are putting me on a pedestal, Kazuichi! And I will not stand by and allow that to happen. I wish to say that I am a human being, much like you, and I have flaws. While you might be blind to see as such, each and every one of my flaws makes me the princess, Sonia Nevermind! Because if I was perfect, I would be like one of those characters of anime with a big chest and rainbow eyes! As enlightening as the rainbow eyes do seem to be, I am not what some people classify to be what is called a 'Mary-Sue'!"

Kazuichi's eyes widened as I kept speaking. 

"If you treat me like a prize to be won, like a spoil of war with one of the other boys, I will show you that I may fight on my own, that I am not a distress in damsel-"

"Damsel in distress-" he muttered.

"Damsel in distress," I amended my words. "But if you think I am an object or something akin to that, I do have to- what's the phrase- break it to you that I am not! Just like you, despite the ranks we have in differences since you are a mechanic and I am a princess, I have blood flowing through my veins- it is not golden blood of the gods, it is the red, pumping blood just like yours! I-"

"Yo," Hiroko popped up beside me without any warning, causing a yelp to ensue from Kazuichi. "You guys done chit-chatting? What's-his-face wants us to move along. Honestly, he's unbelievable.. worse then what Fufu said... she made him out to be some kinda god or something..."

With a blink, she looked over at us. "Well?" 

"Yes, yes, we will be there in an instant!" 

"Glad to hear it. Koto's impatient, too..."

 Taking the cigarette in her hand and tossing it to the side, the woman slid her hands into her jacket pockets, looking expectantly at us two. It's only then when I realized that she was waiting for us too, and I hurried to her side, Kazuichi on the other side on her. 

"Is there any reason why he's rushed?" Kazuichi asked, scrubbing a hand through his mess of pink hair, combing through the roots of black at the top of his head, rather impatiently digging his fingernails through the frayed strands, and frowning as he caught sight of a chunk of black hair. 

"Dunno," she shrugged as we made our way back to where Kotoko and Byakuya waited.

With a look over his glasses, Byakuya said, "About time. You're all as slow as worms..."

"Oi, you asked me to get them, don't diss me," Hiroko said, waving a hand with a good-natured smile. 

Rather than responding, I looked towards Kotoko, who was instead staring at the ground, her features confronted in a painful look. Rather than the cheerful light she formerly had in her eyes, it was replaced by a haze... a haze of...

 ** _d e s p a i r_**. 

Everything went black.

...

Black...?

What was... black?

It wasn't black. 

It was the tint despair created. 

A blossom of purple from a budding bruise, a flash of orange from a fire that raged in the streets, causing havoc in homes as it ate away at everything, at the wash of red and pink over the blood that spilled out into rivers, and rivers...

A scream tore from my mouth. 

A blanket of red obscured my vision, blurred and fuzzy. 

"... nia! Sonia! _Sonia!"_

A sharp, smacking noise. 

My cheek stung. Both sides. 

So did my fists. They felt coated with some sort of liquid. 

A hand at my shoulder. 

Everything felt dizzy. 

Red faded away to a blaring pink, and soon, I could make out Kazuichi's face. 

Rather than the obsessive concern I was expecting him to have, his features were confronted in a state of worry and distress. 

"Sonia?" 

Once again, his words were different then what I had been expecting. Different. More tender. 

I brought my fist up to my face, tightly clenched, knuckles colored a pure white. Tainted on my knuckles was the color of blood.

My eyes flew from it to Kazuichi, to Kotoko's shocked expression, and Hiroko's look over to Byakuya, who currently had a hand cupped over his face. 

His eyes were wide, dangerous- not the scared kind of wide, but something I saw in the Japanese dramas- where the character was close to flipping, and I wasn't looking forward to seeing that side of him.

"Sonia? Are you all right?"

Bringing my eyes to Kazuichi's, I reached out to brush my fingers against his cheek, yet hesitated and withdrew.

His irises shattered, yet he didn't pin after the dropped action, but I could feel a sense of odd longing from him, a strange aura that didn't suit the mechanic at all.

Not before long, he cleared his throat, and stepped away from me, allowing me to take a full view of Byakuya.

As he dropped his hands, my eyes widened instantly. "Ah! I am so sorry!" 

Smears of blood were evident on his face, especially under his nose, which was slightly crooked to the side. His hand was covered in the same liquid, yet none of the scene could match up to the disgust, the pure and utter _disgust_ in his eyes. 

 He rose up to meet me, torso painted in the terrible color, his shoulders, his arms, and drew his hand back.

Another sting in my cheek. 

"At least that should owe up to something," he spat, his words slightly muffled and jumbled together. 

"I... I..."

Carefully, I touched the tips of my fingers to my stinging cheek- it was a sensation I had never felt before. 

For a moment, for a moment, I could hear a worthless croon in my ear: 

_"Sonia, my dear, I can give you everything you want, and that includes revenge."_

The stench of rust and blood burned my nostrils, and a metallic taste seeped over my taste buds. My blood grew cold.

_"Sonia. I know you can hear me~"_

-

**::Elsewhere::**

The male stood before the mirror, one fist pressed to the shattered glass. Bood flowed over the broken skin, yet he paid no attention to it.

Shaking, the other hand tangled deep in his hair, the brunet swallowed, his throat parched, but the ache in his throat did nothing to calm the sea in his mind. 

"... I don't..."

He was shaking, more violently, now. 

"I can feel him... I can hear him at the edge of my mind...!"

Another fist flew, smashing into the class, and another cut made its' mark on his fist. 

"I don't want him to be there anymore!" 

Rather than one voice, three whispered in his ear.

_"Talentless, worthless reserve course student..."_

The very words made him shudder. 

" _Talent isn't all to life."_

But there was the last voice, the last voice that dominated them both.

_"I am you."_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question, would anyone like to be an 'editor' and give me feedback of the whole chapter in general? That would be great...


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three days is all it takes for them to drink in another body.

**< FUYUHIKO>**

I trailed behind Masaru in uncertainty, Makoto hesitating from the doorway as the redhead climbed down the staircase, clicking his tongue upon glancing backward and seeing our doubt. 

"C'mon. You guys will be fine."

My eyes flicked to the sight of the brown pools- the brown, glassy, distant irises that stared straight at me, and I felt a chill run down my back.

"Jataro!" Masaru called, hands settled on his hips and a pout on his face. "What did I tell you about turning off the lights? The Great Masaru Daimon can't do anything like this!" 

The disembodied voice came from the same direction of the eyes. "Uh... oh, sorry...  I just like it better, and Dad does too... you probably hate me now... right?" 

In the darkness, I saw a dim light start to pulse. Narrowing my eyes, I focused on that small, rectangular opening of light as there was a clatter of something hitting what sounded like wood before the entire room exploded in light. Immediately, my hands flew to my face in an attempt to cover my eyes (or, I guess, one eye) from the glaring power source. 

"Sorry..." The same, even and slow voice drawled, and as I peeked through my fingers, I spotted a boy, maybe even a little younger and shorter then Masaru, with one sleeve pressed to the wall. It was a long sleeve, stitched together with different patterns of brown interlacing together, and I also zeroed in on the thin, razor-tip sewing needle that came out of the boy's other hand. 

His hands were hidden by the baggy sleeve, the end curled into a ball that was probably a fist or something akin to that, but his entire clothing followed the same pattern, messy, dirty, and all stitched together using patches of brown fabric. His face was the only thing that wasn't somewhat dirty, although his eyes were ringed with dark circles. 

My fingers itched. 

Upon seeing me, his eyes widened- in fear, maybe even in bewilderment, and I blinked at him in response, cocking my head to the side in confusion. 

"You're... you're one of the warriors, aren't you?" Makoto asked. I hadn't even seen him creeping up behind me until he stood shoulder to shoulder with me. 

"Huh... warriors? Like... the warriors of hope?"

My fingers twitched, feeling something itching beneath my skin again. 

"Um.. yeah, I think that was their name," Makoto scratched at his chin.

Masaru spoke up. "The Warriors of Hope are destroyed. That's a mark of the past, and we don't want Picklesatan with us ever again! Right, Jataro?" 

Jataro tapped his sleeves together. "Yeah..." 

 _Warriors of Hope_. It was an odd name, something that didn't just roll off of the tongue correctly. 

"But... there was..." Makoto paused. "Five of you, right? I've only met three of you."

Masaru's brow furrowed. "Three? So you've met Kotoko too?" 

His voice was guarded- oddly defensive as well. 

_Jataro, Masaru, and Kotoko..._

"Um," Makoto shifted, looking uncomfortable under the redhead's impending gaze. "N-No, actually! Um... Nagisa? His name is Nagisa, I believe! Blue hair, blue eyes...!" 

"You met Nagisa?" Jataro burst out, looking more excited than anything (well, his voice was... his face was just... blah), brown eyes shining. With that, he turned around and shouted, "DADDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!" 

A bang from the closed door, and it opened, revealing shaking hands, followed by a closed-off face. The aura that came off of the man wasn't abrasive or rude but instead withdrawn, closed, like he was... afraid. 

"A-Ah! I... I wasn't aware that we had guests," the man fiddled with his clothing, which was peppered with holes and dirt. "Um... hello," he offered. 

Makoto was close to taking a step back, his eyes widening. The man looked at him for a moment, but it was quick for the Future Foundation to shake it off, offer a hand, and smile. 

"Makoto Naegi. That's Fuyuhiko over there," he inclined his head towards me. 

"Taichi... Taichi Fujisaki," he introduced, sweeping one, wispy brown bang from his eyes. I noticed that his eyes were dark-rimmed behind the glint of his glasses. 

Eyes widening, Makoto shook himself for some unknown reason. "It's a pleasure to meet you." 

Taichi nodded, then looked towards Jataro, withdrawing into himself by wrapping his arms around his body. "Y-Yes, Jataro...? Did you need something?" He let out something like a chuckle. "I think that's the first time I've heard you raise your voice..." 

"They know where Nagisa is!" Masaru burst out, and there was a light, a fire in his eyes, brighter than ever before. 

"N-Nagisa...?" Taichi froze. 

Almost instantly, his eyes are on me, searching me, and I could clearly see the glint of recognition in his eyes. The shift was small, sure, but the step he took away from me was obvious. 

_Nagisa...?_

_Nagisa..._

_Nagisa._

In my mind's eye, memories flashed. 

Memories of a gleaming helmet, with one line dividing the black and white side. A red eye on the black side, a hypnotizing glare to it. 

"We haven't been able to call Nagisa in a loooooooong time," Jataro hummed. "It's probably my fault since he hates me so much..."

"Jataro," Taichi scolded, walking over to comfortingly touch the boy's shoulder.

"He's not picking up his phone, although he took it with him..." 

I blinked, snapping out of my trance. 

"Taichi, is he talkin' shit about himself again?" 

A slam of the door. Two female voices, along with a distant murmur of chattering. 

"Hiroko, the kids are in range-"

"Deal with it. Talk shit, get hit. Gotta get used to the situation here." 

Taichi looked disapproving, but as the pink-haired woman strode into the room. "Aw, c'mon, Taichi, we have guests? Wasn't aware-"

"Fuyuhiko!" 

A blur encaptured me, and I stiffened. "S-Sonia...?" 

The blonde hair wasn't easy to mistake, and Kazuichi was following behind her, his face lit up in a lazy but distant grin. 

"Yo, Fuyuhiko."

The way he greeted me was odd- as if we were friends. Friends that had now each other for a long time, not mere hours. Friends that went to high school together. 

_I don't understand what's going on._

_The lines of this reality are starting to blur. Why...? What is really behind my amnesia...?_

The pink-haired woman adjusted the collar of her jacket, which was light-blue with some sort of logo on it. "Oh, hey," she greeted after a moment, looking towards Makoto and me with lazy eyes.  

"What up?" She gave a mock salute to us, rolling her neck side to side with a grin on her lips. 

Sonia released me. "You escaped from the graveyard! Oh, what a wonderful stroke of fortune for us to meet here!" 

"Yeah, I suppose," I sighed. "And how did you two even get here? The pink-haired woman?"

"Hiroko was 'part of it," Kazuichi shrugged. "So was Kotoko." 

_Kotoko...?_

Upon that word, someone touched my shoulder, and I flinched back, navigating away from the touch immediately. 

"Oh!" The girl giggled. "Sorry about that~!" 

Like Hiroko, she had pink hair, but it was cut shorter than the other woman, stopping just below her chin. Rather than the warm, brown eyes, Hiroko had, hers matched her hair: light pink. 

Whipping away from me in one instant, the girl bounced over to Masaru, latching onto his wrist and dragging him over to Jataro, placing them side-by-side before giving them a light kiss on either cheek. 

I dragged my gaze from them as there was a click beside to me- Byakuya flicking out a phone. I didn't even notice that he had entered, but he tapped numbers into them without having to even think about who he was calling and brought the phone to his ear. 

"Hm...? Yes. We're still in Towa. Pardon? Fukawa, Hagakure, and Asahina are there, you say? Mhm... yes. We've encountered a certain group of people, some who have caused trouble in the past- is that Kizakura I hear in the background? This- this is branch thirteen and fourteen, why is he-" 

He clicked his tongue. "Not all of us are accounted for. Kirigiri and Hajime are still missing, as far as what I can see. What- no, _Koichi Kizakura_ , do _not_ take the phone- good grief," the Future Foundation member sighed, holding the phone away from him. 

"Um... who is that?" Taichi asked the question I wanted to.

"A Future Foundation branch member who should not be shoving his drunk nose in our business since he's on another branch," Byakuya gave a snide look towards the phone. 

With that, he walked into the corner to quietly talk to this Koichi Kizakura. Meanwhile, Jataro bounced over, looking bashful. 

"W-Was that Future Foundation...?"

I blinked. "Um... yeah, I think so."

Jataro tilted his head up to look up at me. "Do you think you can call... um... Nagisa?" 

"I don't have a phone, kid. My memory was erased and I woke up from the rest not too long ago," I smiled thinly, but I was sure that he could see the lie, the fractures of confusion in my eyes. "I would if I could." 

He frowned. "Could Dad connect to the Future Foundation network and contact him...? Um... he hasn't been answering his phone recently..."

"Nagisa, that is," Kotoko, or who I assumed to be Kotoko, the pink-haired girl, chimed in from the other side of me. "He left to see Future Foundation, seemingly left his phone there, and didn't come back. If Naegi over there saw him there, then he must be okay!" 

I glanced over at Makoto, who was now talking to Byakuya in a low tone. The blond was holding the phone out, offering it to the shorter male. Makoto's face had now drawn into a frown, a light one, his eyes crinkled. 

"We can try," Sonia nodded from her spot, hands clasped in front of her. 

A light sparked in both of their eyes. Clearly, this Nagisa person meant a lot to them. 

"We just don't know how..." Taichi explained tentatively, hastily fixing his glasses. Hiroko had taken a seat at the table, kicking up her feet and lighting a cigarette.

Someone yelped. 

After the yelp, Hiroko dropped the cigarette. "Ah, Masa- Masaru, I'm sorry-" 

 That was when I realized that Masaru had darted out of the room, and both Jataro and Kotoko had disappeared after him. Taichi abandoned his spot, departing the room with an 'I'll call you if I need you' to Hiroko. 

Silence.

Kazuichi moved to sit at the table, coughing into his fist.

Hiroko stared holes into the table before she let out a loud sigh and dropped her head back. 

"I'm terrible at takin' care of kids, honestly," she said. "Still love my first son, but I keep forgettin' that he hates both alcohol and drugs. Harsh past life, that kid. All of them, actually. Amazing, the fact they managed to heal as much as they did." 

She smiled, the expression distant. "Heh. Oh, what I wouldn't do to see my son again." 

"Your... son?" I asked.

"Yup. Future Foundation member. Handsome. Tall. Smart. Only problems are the little ones with girls and money."

"I beg to differ," Byakuya called, pausing in his conversation to speak up before talking with the smaller boy again. 

"Oh, shush, Prickleface."

"So.. you want to see your son again?" Sonia asked. "That is wonderfully lovely!" 

There was the sun shining in her eyes. Hiroko let out a low chuckle. 

"Yeah, I do. I love him with all my heart. He's my world. I wanna see him again. I wanna see my son again." 

A glaze flickered over her eyes, but there was a cold touch to her lips. Abruptly, she stood. "Welp. I gotta blast. Taichi's gonna have his hand full."

"Wait, where are ya going?" Kazuichi burst out. 

"Trip," was all Hiroko said. 

And she was out the door, wavy pink hair flowing behind her, but I caught glimpse of regret on her face- overshadowed by her usual careless personality. The purse of her lips, the scrunch of her forehead. It was all there.

_I've experienced it too._

_Hospital. Broken. My fault. Her life. I didn't deserve this. This second life._

The memory flew up in my mind, and I tried to desperately hold onto it, grasp it tightly and secure it, but it fluttered away with the lasting scent of blood burning in my nose. 

Now, the only people that were left in the room where the Future Foundation members, and us. 

Makoto had now taken the phone from Byakuya, and was facing away from us, talking quietly into it as he held it between his shoulder and jaw. Speaking about the Togami, he was staring at the ground with a guarded expression, frowns flickering across his face. 

"Huh? One-" Makoto sighed. "Akane, if you wanted to come with us, I don't think- you don't like ghosts-"

Someone yelled from the phone. Apparently, both Sonia and I heard the name.

"Akane?" She asked hopefully. 

He turned to face us, still speaking into the phone. "Oh, they heard you. Would you like to speak to them?" 

Curiosity lit up his face as Akane replied. "Well... Hajime's not here, but- you would still like to speak to all three of them? Well, we could put you on speaker."

He laughed shortly. "You sound serious," the words were sheepish. "No, no one else will be listening, so you won't have to break any spines. They can move to a different room so that only they will hear."

That seemed to satisfy Akane, and Makoto removed it from his ear, holding it out towards us. 

"It's Akane," he said as if we didn't guess. 

Kazuichi reached towards it, examining the phone with the mutter of something I didn't understand that sounded more gibberish to me than anything. Holding it to his ear, his features broke out into an awkward, shark-like grin. 

"Yo. So- Eeeeeh?! How was I supposed ta' know that we were goin' to a graveyard? Wait, wait, slow down- you're not like this usually, Akane- stop shouting at me!" 

With the air of a defeated child, he held out the phone towards me and proceeded to pull his beanie down over his face. Sonia was quick to go speak comforting words to him while I tuned in my attention to her. 

"Yo," she sounded tired. 

"Are you okay?" I asked, shifting. 

"You're in Towa City?" Akane avoided my question. "Near a graveyard?"

"Well, uh... yeah, we just got back from the graveyard."

"There's some weird crap goin' on over there, according to blueberry kid. And... Look, I've found some information. It's... unsettlin'. Don't like it at all. Keep this in mind: Somethin' is with that graveyard. It's the only graveyard near Towa City, or even in it. People disappear. Don't stay there long." 

"Akane, we have to. Our- our car is broken down," I said through gritted teeth. "Listen. You're going insane from staying inside too long."

Yes. That was it. This Akane... she was too paranoid. Something had cracked. This was nothing like carefree, casual Akane I had met. 

"Fuyuhiko," she hissed. 

"Akane, _stop_."

"Three days." 

"Akane-"

The call ended. 

The... hell is going on?

That... that was nothing like her. 

Sonia and Kazuichi were now watching me, gauging my reaction, which was a bewildered expression. 

"What did she say?" The former asked.

"It's... It's nothing."

**OoO**

The exhausted family returned at nightfall by the first day when Masaru had run off- Masaru with broken and bloodied knuckles, Kotoko nursing her eye, but all of them besides Taichi disappeared upstairs supporting one another. 

Meanwhile, Taichi spared them a tired glance before pointing to the couch and a door down the hallway before also disappearing upstairs.

"I hope we're not intruding..." 

"Nonsense, Naegi. Those children owe us a favor."

"A favor from what?"A sharp edge entered Makoto's tone. "From saving them from a manipulative girl and therefore shattering their utopia?"

Immediately, Byakuya's hand closed on his shirt. " _Naegi_. They're. Right. Here." 

With that, they dispersed.

"I'll take the couch," I muttered to Kazuichi and Sonia, moving over to the said object and flopping down on it. 

The next three days flew on like a blur. Jataro and Kazuichi seemed to have taken a liking to one another, as did Kotoko and Sonia. 

Masaru watched the other two interact with the others with puffed cheeks as I sat down next to him.

"You love them, don't you?"

"Wh-"

"Don't deny it. Poly?"

These terms were natural- as the days passed, they came to me as easily as one would drink water. 

"I-" Color rose to his cheeks. "Yeah."

I let out a slight chuckle, which burst into a coughing fit. In surprise, Masaru looked over at me. 

"You're not that fit, are you?"

"Well, sorry for not being aware of my past life," I coughed out. 

A hand grabbed my wrist, yanking me up. "We're goin' out for a run!" 

"What- Masaru, _no_ -" 

I could hear Sonia's laughter behind me as Masaru dragged me out of the house. "Come on!" 

While holding onto my wrist the entire while, the redhead started to jog, forcing me to run alongside him if I didn't want to drag my feet in the dirt. I didn't doubt that he would still go on. 

About half way through, where I was actually running, Masaru let go of my wrist, letting out a short, bubbly laugh as he raced ahead of me. "Loser, loser! You can't catch me!"

A smile touched my lips as I sped up. "I beg to differ, Masaru!" 

We turned the corner to go along the pathway into the graveyard. 

Masaru stopped in his tracks. I did too. 

A body. 

" _Somethin' is with that graveyard. It's the only graveyard near Towa City, or even in it. People disappear."_

The body had a loose noose around it's neck, the rope trailing along the ground to rest around a branch of a tree. It was splayed out in front of a grave. 

The grave had blood splattered across the stone, but I could still identify the name. 

**_Y U T A  A S A H I N A_ **

A single cigarette laid on the ground, the ash still glowing faintly with smoke coming from the object. 

Pink hair. A blue jacket.  

_"I want to see my son again."_

_"I want to see my son again."_

_"I want to see my son again."_

Hiroko Hagakure wasn't going to see her son again.  


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does death stop time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever. I cry ;-;

**< AKANE>**

My eyes craned open, blurry and watering before I let out a groan, rolling over simultaneously. Upon rolling over, my palms hit the floor, and with a hissed breath, I rubbed my hand against the floor. Rather than the smooth, tile floor of Future Foundation, I felt carpet. 

"The hell..." I muttered, the words snarled out and slurred, seeing how I had just woken up. 

"Glad to hear you up, sweetheart!" A drawl from the dark corner of the room stole my attention in that direction. With gritted teeth, I pulled myself up, one hand pushing up my sleeve and the other curled into a fist.

"Who's there?" I barked. 

"Ohhhh, just someone long forgotten since Ms. Gloomy refuses to let me get out. It's sorta' annoyin', to be honest, like _sheesh_ , let me kill some pretty boys!" 

"The hell you're talkin' about?"

"Well, I'm not allowed to kill now since my precious White Knight 'nd all told her to shut me up, which is suuuuuuuper rude, but what Master says goes! Ehehe... but, y'know, it's so borin' and shit. And Dekomaru ain't around here, from what I've seen, so I'm _bored!"_

I pulled myself up from off the floor, glancing side to side in attempts to locate the voice. 

The glint of silver peeked out of the corner of my eye. With hesitation, I hurled my fist in that direction.

"Whoa, girl!" 

I froze as the skin of my knuckle pressed against the cold touch of metal. 

"The hell?" I growled out, retracting my fist and throwing it blindly again. 

"Careful there, sweetheart! I'm a man-killer, not a lady one! Another step forward and these crafted scissors will cut the hell out of you! But, you know, it's kinda annoyin' since you were snooping around, so I've got a perfectly valid reason if Big Mack questions somethin'. Want the lights on before I skewer you?" 

Dancing back, I landed on all fours, ready to kick out if necessary, shifting my weight to rest on both of my feet while my hands were still held in a defensive position. With a click, the lights turned out, and my jaw dropped.

"Eeh? Aren't ya the author?" 

"Bookworm? Hell, nah. I'm not her. I've got her body, though it's nothin' attractive." 

 What used to be Touko was now someone with a crazed glint in her eye, irises now a blazing red, her tongue poking out of her mouth. Despite that, she was able to speak clearly.

In her hands, she twirled two pairs of scissors, one a bit more rusty than the other. As she caught me looking at it, she held it up to her eye-level.

"Aw, crap!" She complained. "These ones got rusty just because I accidentally dropped 'em in water? Come on!" 

With that, the scissors vanished under her clothing, and the woman cocked her head, looking at me up and down.

"Eh... you're not a Future Foundation member, are ya?" 

"Nah. I've been here for a while now- but are ya... like a twin to the other girl, or no?" 

"Oh? Bookworm? Hell no! I'm your friendly serial killer, Genocider Syo!" 

I blinked impassively.

She had a hand on her stomach, as if Syo or whatever the hell her name was, about to laugh. Upon seeing my reaction, she dropped it, and a growl entered. "Huh? You don't know me...?" 

"Never heard of ya before," there was this aura coming off of this serial killer that made my fists clench. "But... a serial kill'r?" 

"Yeah, yeah, darlin', but that ain't important! What the hell were you doin' in there?" 

"In where?" 

"That room over where I found ya. That's classified information." 

Syo's words were now laced with a dark undertone, hands settled on her hips. Before I opened my mouth to answer, she held up a hand, and I was surprised to see her hand shaking. 

"Heh, now ya gotta deal with the judgemental author! That's hell, trust me! Kyehehe...!" 

With that final laugh, Syo started to shake, her entire body trembling as a shadow fell over her eyes. After a moment, her shoulders squared, and a small yelp came out.

"U-Ugh... I had to depend on h-her again, didn't I...?" Touko said, her stutter now present. 

"Listen, I dunno what the hell's going on, but why was that room off-limits?"

"I c-can't tell you," Touko gnawed on her lower lip. "And i-it's not even important...!" 

"Clearly it is if ya tryin' to hide it from me," I drawled. 

Touko turned her back to me, her words muffled. "C-Come on," she said, moving forward. "Let's g-go, someone's probably wondering what a crude girl like you is d-doing around here..." 

I eyed her, my footsteps light in comparison to her shuffling ones. "Fine," I said at last, moving alongside her. 

"Touko!" 

I glanced up, catching glimpse of Aoi at the end of the hallway. Upon seeing me, she gave me a small smile, blue eyes glittering. "Ah! Akane! You're here too!"

"Yeah, I guess." 

"What were you doing here?" The swimmer asked, cocking her head. 

"T-That's not important," Touko muttered. "W-What do you want...?" 

Aoi rubbed her knuckles, looking uneasy once silence exploded between us. Shifting, she cleared her throat before she spoke. "There's a call for you."

That's when I noticed the phone clutched in her hands, extended out towards me. I took it, and held it to my ear. "Er, 'ello?"

""Akane," Makoto greeted from the other end. "Hey."

"Why didn't ya take me there?" I demanded, the question flying out of my mouth. "To where you are." 

"Towa City. Akane, if you wanted to come with us, I don't think-"

"And?"

"You don't like ghosts-"

My grip tightened instantly on the phone as I growled into it, "How'dya know that?"

"Well- oh, they heard you."

There was an uneasy laugh on the other end as Makoto spoke to someone else. "Would you like to speak to them? Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, and Sonia, I mean. They're here."

I paused. Towa City... didn't that kid, Nagisa mention something bad about Towa City. Something about.. three days.

"Uh... could I talk to 'em? Hajime's there too, ain't he? It's urgent."

"Well... Hajime's not here, but- you would like to speak to all three of them? Well, we could put you on speaker..."

"No, Makoto," I drawled out. "This is for them, and them alone. Everyone else in that room doesn't need ta' hear it. I'll break their spines." 

A short laugh, "You sound serious," the way he said it was sheepish. "No, no one else will be listening, so you don't have to break anymore spines. They can move to a different room so that only they will hear."

While we were talking, both Touko and Aoi left, murmuring quietly to one another as they did.

I recognized Kazuichi's voice the moment he spoke into the phone.

"Why didn't ya take me with ya? We used to be friends before we got caught into this crash that erased our memories, so that means we do things together, ain't that the case?"

"Eeeh? How was I supposed ta' know that w were join' to a graveyard?" 

"I dunno, maybe someone told ya?" 

"Wait, wait, slow down- you're not usually like this, Akane!" 

"Well, it's urgent, so listen, all right?"

"But-" 

"Shut up!"

"Akane, stop shouting at me!" Kazuichi whimpered. There was a murmur of talk on his side before I heard Fuyuhiko's voice.

"Hello?" 

"Yo," I greeted. 

"Are you okay?" He asked, voice deeping, probably so no one around him could hear. 

"You're in Towa City? Near a graveyard?" 

"Well, uh... yeah, we just got back from the graveyard." 

I exhaled, pinching my nose as Nagisa's words floated back to me. "There's some weird crap goin' on over there, accordin' to blueberry kid. And... look, I've found some information. It's... unsettling. Don't like it at all. Keep this in mind: Somethin' is with that graveyard. It;s  the only graveyard near Towa City, or even in it. People disappear. Don't stay there too long." 

"Akane," Fuyuhiko sighed. "We have to. Our- our car is broken down. You're going insane from staying inside too long."

Maybe true. I had a fire in my veins, pounding in my ears. 

"Fuyuhiko."

"Akane, stop." 

"Three days," I insisted. 

"Akane-"

I clicked the red button to stop the call. 

Moving away and jogging towards the end of the hallway, I pocketed the phone with the idea that I would return it to Aoi later.

Three days. 

Three days passed.

I was stuffing a piece of bread in my mouth with Touko typing away on a small computer, eyes darting up to rest on me with shrewd, narrow eyes before she started typing again when Aoi burst in. 

"Touko! We have to move! Naegi needs help!" 

"N-No kidding," the braided girl scoffed. "He always needs someone like K-Kirigiri to save him..." 

Aoi pouted, settling her hands on her hips. "We need to go now!"

 I caught how uneasily her eyes darted towards me, and glanced away, gaze brittle. "'S'not like I'm stoppin' you from going." 

"No, Akane, you have to come too. Seeing how the rest of them are there and you aren't..."

"Oh, so I'm just 'part of some group now? You gotta be independent, Aoi. You're not gonna get anywhere if you're apart of some group and just dance in the sunlight." 

"Well, yeah, I know, but-" 

"Keep me outta' it." 

 I started to pick up my pace, but Aoi grabbed at my hand, and a fire entered her eyes. "Akane! You're coming with me, right now! Touko, you too!"

She proceeded to drag me elsewhere, to the point where I saw what's-his-face-with-dreadlocks leaning against the wall, his face lighting up in a smile upon seeing us. "Yo, Aoi!" 

I tore my wrist from Aoi, giving her a big grin that covered up my words from earlier. "You've got a pretty strong grip. It'll be fun to have a fight with ya!" 

"That's not the case right now," she puffed out her cheeks. "We need to go!" 

In a blur of confusion that lasted over a couple of minutes, we piled into a car. Scrunching up my nose as I kicked up my legs to rest on the chair in front of me. 

Touko wrinkled her nose, glancing away. "K-Keep your skirt d-down," she snapped. 

I shrugged and picked at the innerside of my ear. "Ma' bad." 

"Y-You're not at all sorry." 

I didn't pay attention to her afterwards, crossing my arms across my chest and rolling my neck around. "Yo... where we goin'?" 

 "Towa City again, apparently," Yasuhiro said from the front of the seat. 

Nagisa had climbed into the car with us, significantly shorter in comparison to the rest of us as he let his head drop against the outline of the window, eyes fluttering closed. 

I glanced over at the kid, face screwing up.

_"Aka-chan~ A-ka-nee!"_

_"Nah, listen, kiddo," I laughed, reaching over to ruffle the dark hair of the little girl. "Ack-kan-aye."_

_"Aik-kan-aye," my little sister said with all seriousness, face confronting in attempts to say my name, small fists balling up._

_"Lil' more," I praised. "Change yer first syllable."_

_With that final proclamation, she said my name, fully and with confidence, puffing out her cheeks._

_"Good job!" I_ said _at last, my words ended with a short chuckle, ruffling her hair some more. "That's ma' little sister, yeah, yeah?"_

My eyes flashed open. 

Mako... that was my sister's name. One that I had knew like the back of my hand, closest to me despite the age gap of nearly six years. 

"Somethin' wrong?" Yasuhiro asked me, eyes darting up to rest on mine in the mirror. 

"It's nothin'," I passed it off with the wave of a hand, shrugging my shoulders. 

_If people think you of weak, they're never gonna see you as someone who you really are._

Touko was watching him, and as I glanced at her, she turned a cold shoulder to me, letting out a small noise. 

"How long will it take ta' get there?" I asked. "I need to throw my fists at something. Anythin', really."

"I don't know. But we'll get there when we get there!" Aoi puffed out her cheeks. "Go to sleep, Akane. It'll pass time quicker." 

I let my head drop back, giving her a short huff in response. Tapping my foot against the floor of the car, I let my thoughts fly out the window, overturning one another in a sea of memories, frothing at the back of my mind. 

I fell. 

"-kane! Akane!" 

Someone was shaking my shoulder repeatedly, and I stirred, bleary eyes opening in a haze of exhaustion. "Wha...?" 

"We're here." 

Aoi looked out over the car from where she was standing, the door to the car open. On either side of me, Nagisa and Touko were absent. 

But something dark seemed to overcome her bubbly aura, eyes damp with an unknown emotion. 

I looked in the direction that she was looking, and immediately, cold washed over me. 

In the past few years, my mind had been absent of seeing dead bodies. When I was younger, I couldn't stop seeing them. 

I wasn't too affected, but I slunk out of the car, spotting a redhead standing before where the body lay. 

A rope was loose around the woman's neck, pink hair tumbling around her face and onto the ground. I jogged up to where the body lay, looking down at it for a moment, jaw ground into a scowl. 

_You can't escape from death, after all, my little Owari. It's the one thing that triumph over time._

"Mom...? Mom. Mom, Mom. Mom..."

My hand moved without another word, settling on the kid's shoulder. 

I could feel him tense under my hand, but my gaze didn't move from the body. "There's nothing else we can do for her 'kept make sure she getsa' proper burial." 

Someone's wail rose high in the air. "MOM!" 

I caught a blur of brown on my other side, and Yasuhiro was there, hands braced into the dirt. "Mom! Mom, please!" 

The following few hours were horror to everyone around me. 

I had never seen Yasuhiro, in the small amount of time that I knew him, so needy. He refused to budge from his mother's side, whose's name I learned was Hiroko Hagakure.

"Yo, Fuyuhiko," I called.

The shorter male was staring out into the distance, hands shoved into his pockets. Upon hearing his name, he turned towards me, golden eyes dull. "Yeah? What do you want?" 

"Where's Hajime?" 

Something flickered in his eyes. "Dunno. We don't know where he is, or Kyouko. This entire place is a mess right now." 

"Clearly," I muttered under my breath, rocking back and forth on my heels. "So, uh, ya wanna ask Makoto or somethin' if we can go out and look for 'em?" 

Fuyuhiko looked at me in surprise, one eyebrow raising. "Do you really think he'd let us do that...? I mean, someone just died." 

"Or he could let Kyouko remain lost," I stated with a shrug. "Hey, what'ver floats his boat. But we could try." 

 I spun on my heel without listening for Fuyuhiko's response, giving one look towards the group of four kids, in which Nagisa was trying to comfort the other three. There was something fiery in his eyes, and when he glanced up to look at me, light blue hues hardened as his gaze shifted over to look at the grave. 

" Yo, uh, Makoto."

The short-haired male turned towards me, and for a moment, I was startled how tired the young Future Foundation member looked- eyes exhausted. But he smiled after a moment, brightening up his face and hiding it. "Yes, Akane?" 

"Can me 'n Fuyuhiko go wanderin' to try and find Hajime or somethin'? We'll be quick, I promise," I said, crackling my knuckles for good effect. "I can take care of us jus' fine if it calls for it." 

""We are missing Kirigiri," Byakuya reminded Makoto, raising an eyebrow. "Act on it how you will." 

It took a moment for Makoto to respond, olive-green eyes blinking with tiredness. "Um... if you want, of course. Don't be long. We're getting a few Future Foundation members here later to do some work, so..."  

"All right, Fuyuhiko, let's get moving!" I hollered over my shoulder, and as I started walking away, I heard shoes scuffle against leaves as Fuyuhiko jogged to meet my pace. 

"... I feel bad for 'em, you know," the blond said, exhaling deeply.

"Who?"

"The kids you saw. Masaru, Kotoko, and Jataro. From what I heard, their own parents had some troubles with them, and Taichi and Hiroko- the woman- adopted them. Their lives were just looking up, and now their adoptive mother was taken away from them." 

He kicked at a rock, keeping his gaze trained on the ground. "And they saved us from getting our butts kicked and killed in the graveyard. There was an attack on the different half, just when Makoto and the others were paying their respects to some of the dead." 

I let my gaze wander from alley to alley as we approached the deep inside of the city. "Huh... must of been hard for them." 

My heart roared in response, longing for my sisters and my brothers, my family, wanting to see them again. Huh... I should ask Makoto about that. 

Something snapped in the background.

"Was that you?" Fuyuhiko and I asked one another in unison. 

His eyes darted down to our feet, looking for anything that we had stepped on. 

_Snap._

My instincts and gut kicked in before anything else.

"Ambush! Run!" 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You aren't supposed to be innocent.

**< <SONIA>>**

As Akane and Fuyuhiko disappeared, I brought my hands to my chest, looking at all of the people worryingly.

Knelt near the body is a man I had never seen before, hands digging into his hair.

"Mom...! Mom...! Mom, Mom, please, you were a warrior, you aren't- you weren't...!"

Makoto Naegi was beside him, one hand pressed to his shoulder in comfort. For a moment, something heavy rested in his eyes- something of loss, of something he had left behind- or someone that had left him behind.

I couldn't read his lips, but his face was heavy.

The man threw his head back, tears staining his cheeks as he clutched at the hand of Hiroko Hagakure.

A scream echoed throughout the air. It hit me.

It was a scream that shook me down to my bones, caused it to rattle in my skeleton. It was one of pain, of agony, of something so dearly loved lost. My heart jumped up in my throat as my fingers come up to press against my lips.

"I... Hagakure-san...!"

He was shaking. His frame trembled with every breath that he took, shaking like a leaf that could be so easily knocked over by the wind. He was a figure of pity now, and his entire body was painted in melancholy and mourning, hiccuping sobs escaping his lips.

But he wasn't the only one in mourning.

A group of four stood off near the edge- Kotoko, Masaru, Jataro, and a young and frail blue-haired boy. He caught the glance I threw at him, pale blue hues glassy and unblinking.

Swallowing the rock lodged in my throat, I swept up my confidence and strode to the grave, bowing deeply in respect.

Hiroko's body lay twisted to the side, the ash in her cigarette now only a grey color. The rope was still pulled around her neck, although loosened slightly.

Sucking in a breath, I force myself to stare at the corpse, my mind wandering for respect of the dead.

In Novoselic, there was no change. Only respect for those that have passed. There was no difference.

I pulled myself up, giving a sympathetic glance towards the man who has lost his mother.

Passing him, I pressed my fingers to his shoulder, a sign of reassurance before I swept in the other direction.

"Sonia," Byakuya called.

I was startled to hear my name, one eyebrow raising as I looked in the direction of him. He pressed a finger to his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose, then regarded me.

"Do you know where your... friends are?"

"Ah! You are talking about Akane and Fuyuhiko, yes? Sadly, I do not know where they are."

"The loud and unsightly mechanic works as well," he released a sigh, rubbing at his temple with the tips of his fingers. "You-"

A clear, defined ring came from his pocket. He rose an eyebrow, fishing out the phone and held it to his ear, facing away from me.

I was not an idiot- I could see the sudden shift in his eyes. The furrowing of the brow, the grit of his teeth. Something akin to fear entered the man's eyes, stretched thin and tired.

"I... yes. I understand. I-I... we're not at the b-building right now," Byakuya's voice cracked, and for a moment, I could see how thin the strings that were holding Byakuya Togami together were. "I understand."

With a heavy exhale, he turned towards Makoto and stalked off without another word.

I could see it in his eyes, his stance, his words. Something had broken his pride. Something had brought the memories of it being shattered back.

I watched Byakuya pull Makoto from Hagakure, speaking in his ear. Makoto's face paled considerably, eyes going wide and trembling. The shorter man wrung his wrists, lips parting as he looked at the ground.

Something... was going on.

I clasped my hands behind my back, looking over in the distant.

The sky was beginning to bleed once more, skies touched by the flowers of red and curling up into the sky, a mark of the blood that had been split on the ground. The air whispered with a tinge of sadness, speaking of the man that wept on the cobblestone that held his mother's body.

"Sonia."

I snapped attention, looking over my shoulder at Makoto, who had approached me.

"Yes?"

"We... We need to know where Fuyuhiko and Akane are. Now, preferably."

A tired smile.

"I..." I drew my arms to my chest. "I am sorry, I can't provide any information..."

Makoto's expression shifted into a frown, glancing away and to the sky. "Kyouko and Hajime are still..."

"Naegi, you have to be there," Byakuya said, "This is your responsibility."

"But Kyouko-"

"I'll take care of them," the blond adjusted his glasses once more, the frame catching light and making it flare white. "Kyouko is... resourceful. She's not stupid, much like some commoners that used to be around. While... Sonia's friend... this city isn't for those light of heart. It's a city scarred down to it's roots."

The wind hissed at that, picking up around us.

"She has history with Towa City. It's been three days. She's tough to kill- a pest that won't go away, no matter what you do to try and get rid of it."

"Hajime does not know this city!" I protested. "What if he is not with her? I- Akane, Fuyuhiko- surely they must come as well!"

Makoto placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to ease me with another smile. "They're fine. Right now, we need you to..."

His eyes shifted towards Byakuya, searching for his words. The blond propped up his glasses again, avoiding eye-contact.

"We just need you to move. The stay here was unnecessary," Makoto said at last.

I bit my lip, interlocking my fingers as I stared at the ground.

"Sonia. We need you and Kazuichi back. Please."

Where was Fuyuhiko? Akane? Who knew where Hajime was? Dead?

 _No_ , I reminded myself. _I must not allow those thoughts to pollute me!_

Bowing, I kept my stature stiff and formal.

"You know what it means to put friends behind duties," Byakuya commented, giving me a look. "Surely you haven't forgotten that?"

"Of course not."

It was difficult to push through a tremor in my voice. Instead, I kept my eyes down until the clicking of heels faded.

"We leave in ten minutes."

"Byakuya- Akane, Fuyuhiko, they couldn't have gone far-" I took a step forward, seized by the idea.

"Silence!"

I was a princess. I was not used to being pushed down by someone else. Byakuya stared at me with such a cold fierceness in his eyes that it made me doubt myself.

"I shall not stand down!" I said. "I may not have known them long, but I can feel in my heart that we are friends! Whatever memories that disappeared- surely, they were wonderful memories! Thus, I will not let this pass! I will not let you treat me like I'm just some other woman!"

Silence.

Byakuya ground his teeth. He tossed a cold glare in my direction, heaving a thick sigh. "Sonia Nevermind, there is an emergency back at the Future Foundation building. Once your friends return, we will send a patrol back to the building with them while keeping a station here. You will leave with Naegi, and... the mechanic. Aoi and Hagakure will remain stationed in Towa City. The idiot would want to honor his mother...

"As for Kirigiri, we'll be able to focus a small group on finding them. There was no emergency-"

He let out a small 'keh', adjusting his glasses. "Nevermind. Get in the car, retrieve Kazuichi. We'll also be sending those children alongside you. That being said, hustle to the car."

When I didn't budge, he set another cold, prickling glare in my direction. Upon seeing his expression, I shifted my gait. 

"It is not just the dear Kirigiri I'm waiting for- there is my friend Hajime as well! He is just as important as her- I may not have known him long, or any of them, but they remind me of the maiden friends that worked for me, locked away in our own castle in Novoselic! They are my companions!"

"Yes, yes, I understand," the other mused. He wasn't paying attention. Just as Byakuya started to guide me towards the car, different to how to the one we came in, I instead increased my stride to match his stride, than overtaking it so that I took the action in my old hands. As Makoto disappeared, most likely going to retrieve Kazuichi, I pulled myself into the car, clear on my stance.

Four children climbed into the car with me. It had three rows of seats, all of them fitting in the backrow.

The tears on their face are obvious.

"H-Hey, Sonia," Kazuichi greeted upon seeing me. 

I tossed a look in his direction, lifting my chin without saying a word. He fingered his lip, and it was then that I noticed the bolt that went through his lips, metal standing stark against the skin. 

Byakuya and Makoto slid in front, the former driving. Instead of saying anything, I stared at the mirror with a hard gaze to my eyes, one that told of my command. The entire ride was silent, air spiking as no one pulled their tongue out to speak. 

The children were utterly silent in the background. Just as I turned my body to take a look at them, four pairs of eyes craned away from me. Kazuichi, next to me, clicked his teeth together.

There was a clear divide between Jataro, Kotoko, and Masaru and the blue-haired boy. He sat by the window, chin nestled on the raised palm of his hands. 

Then, I noticed. Then, I noticed. The slow blink, like it took too much energy, the way his teeth gnawed into his lower lip, the slight bags underneath his eyes and the way his fingers twitched every time there was slightest movement around him. 

The red capillaries in his eyes were distinct, blaring and obvious.

"Hello," I said softly, my voice clear and directed towards them. The boy pulled himself towards me, raising one eyebrow. From the way he was looking at me, a scar stood out against his temple. It was a darker shade than his skin, barely noticeable, and I stopped myself from looking any longer.

"... I am sorry for your dear loss."

"She wasn't our actual mother. There are people in the world that are much more affected than us," he spoke. 

"Nagisaaaaa, stop being... that! We still... she still cared for us! He did too, so much better than our actual parents...!"

"That's gone now. This world is going to take, take, and take without remorse or thought. It's simply how it works, Kotoko."

With that, he fell silent.

I studied him for a moment, wondering what world he had grown up in to have such a mindset drenched in negativity and pessimism! Such a poor boy...

The rest of the ride was completely silent, as it was before I had spoken. As minutes started to blend together, I stared out the window, looking at the bare and empty canvas that was the ground. 

Back in Novoselic, all you would see would be life, blooming, blossoming, gardeners tending to the plant life they put so much work into. People would wander the streets, face pressed between sheets of laughter and happiness. 

My mind wandered to my country. I hadn't asked what condition my country was in, but I held trust in my parent's ruling. 

Curiosity started to whisper in my ear. I tried to focus on the different scenes of the barren land, but it provided little distraction. In replacement, I turned my curiosity to the one in the front seat that I could bear to look at- Makoto.

"Makoto, if you do not mind..."

He looked over his shoulder, breaking into a wearied smile. "Yes?"

"What happened to my country? Certainly, you know of the condition of Novoselic due to contacting them after the incident- yes?"

It took a moment for him to answer. He blinked once, then twice before easing into a slow nod. "Well- y'know, they are a small country-"

"Just because my country is small, that does not mean we cannot fare on our own!"

"You're a princess?!" Kotoko chimed in from the background. "You're still a princess?!"

"Still?" I questioned. "I was never not a princess. Alas, we have traditions in my country, but no traditions stand in the way of being a member of a royal family! There has been no change, and I doubt my parents would have another child while I must simply finish my school years!"

Kotoko opened her mouth for another question until Makoto spoke.

"You can question her back at the foundation, but I think we need to cover what the rules are. After all, you guys... you're children, okay?"

There was a _hrrrmph_ from Masaru. In comparison to the desolate land outside of the car, the tension of the air had been sliced in half by childish curiosity and Makoto's easy personality. Byakuya seemed as tense as ever, knuckles white on the wheel. 

"Keep your childish questions to yourself," he said. "She has no respect for idiotic questions."

"No, no, it's quite all right-"

"Sonia's the best princess in town," Kazuichi interrupted. "Ain't no competition for that!"

"I wanna be a princess!" Kotoko lurched forward, gripping the edge of the seat with polished although jagged nails. "You can be a princess with short hair, right?"

"Of course," I replied. "My mother has short hair, and that does not stunt her from being a grand queen!" 

The smile Kotoko made warmed my heart, and as I aimed a dainty, practiced smile in her direction.

By the time we reached the Future Foundation building, with grey clouded around the top of the building, ghosting around the area. From this distance, it looked almost threatening, with darkened windows and looming shadows, flashes of red in the windows. 

Tucking my hand underneath the other, I instead try to hold my head high and look forward, remembering the smooth walls and wonderful rooms that were inside the building. In the dying light of the day, and with the image of the dead body still drifting at the back of my mind, as well as the thought of Akane, Fuyuhiko, and Hajime, I looked orward to being able to relax.

Kazuichi seemed to have the same reason as me, even going as far as to yelp when he saw the building. "Sh-Sheesh!"

The highlight of red was barely noticeable in his eyes, but as I watched, it became more obvious. As one of the doors for the car pulled open, Byakuya parked, and the two of the Future Foundation members piled out of it without a sound.

"Sonia," Makoto began, making eye-contact with me. "Can I trust you?"

"Yes! Of course!"

"I need you to lead Kazuichi and the children- Kotoko, Nagisa, Masaru, and Jataro- to the left side of the building, where your rooms are. Do you remember how to get to the cafeteria?"

Red flashed across his face, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see an alarm flash, stark as it washed the bleached walls in red. 

"Yes!"

He bowed his head lightly in response, and with a patter of footsteps, Byakuya and him were gone, black suits flashing down the white of the room. Before they left, Byakuya pulled out what looked like a megaphone, holding it as Makoto remained bare-handed. 

As they disappeared, Kazuichi immediately adjusted his beanie upon his head, brushing stray and dead strands out of his face. "So, kids... how's everythin' goin' these days?"

Jataro stared at him for a moment, touching the baggy sleeves of his clothing together absently. With an innocent tilt of his head and a slow, watery voice, he said, "I stepped on a bug today, squished it onto a piece of paper, and ate the little ol' thing..."

"YOU ATE A BUG?!"

"Quiet!" I demanded. He went silent almost immediately, going back to tugging at his beanie, digging deep into the fabric. "He requested that I escort you all to a room of safety- so, as a leader, we must go! As they say: you son of a bitch, I'm the leader here!"

"Can I lead with you?" Kotoko bounced on her heels.

"I'm the leader!" Masaru shoot back. "I'm the strongest here!"

"Now, now, I assure you that the leader will simply guide-"

With a single, loud click, the entire room went dark. I could not even see my own hand against the darkness of the room, nor the audible movements of the others. Then, silence.

Everyone held their breaths. In my memories of previous days, the Future Foundation consisted of lights and hope. Now, I was caught between my memories and reality.

Above us, a speaker (perhaps? I couldn't tell) crackled to life.

"All doors will lock. I repeat, all doors will lock for an hour."

A whimper from the right of me. If I had to guess, Kazuichi.

"A-Are we gunna' die, Sonia?"

I didn't answer.

We waited there for several minutes, in complete darkness. Despite my eyes adjusting, I still could hardly see anything.

That was, until movement.

The door Makoto and Byakuya had exited out of.

The handle clicked. It turned. As a creak echoed in the room, a single voice, disfigured and raspy, groaned from behind the door.

"Soooooooooniiiiiiaaaaaaa... Never... mind.."

 


End file.
